Off the Hook
by wonderfulwizardofthozz
Summary: The mysterious girl's creations never popped up very often, but they were the talk of Paris when they did. (AU where Ladybug is a yarnbomber and Chat Noir is a graffiti artist. Aged up, will eventually have all iterations of the Love Square. Updates once a month. X-posted on AO3. Photos for cover from shuttershock and pixabay)
1. The Butterfly Jerk

"C'mon, LB. I've been done for twenty minutes."

"Oh shut up, Chat. You know my craft is a little more _delicate_ than yours. Besides, I'd be done already if you weren't bothering me." She licked her lip and tied another knot around the seam, praying it would hold the way she wanted it to.

"Hey, just because you work with yarn doesn't mean that paint isn't delicate."

She clipped the last thread. "There. Now I'm done. Now we can go." She gathered the stray ball of yarn and flung it into her bag like a yoyo.

The two ducked into an alcove as a passerby threatened to reveal them. His black hoodie blended into the shadows, but she was always more nervous with her red and black spots. She pushed a finger over his lips, praying they wouldn't be discovered.

Sure, the whole thing was vandalism, but hers wasn't hard to remove since it was just yarn and only took a pair of scissors. She'd gotten into yarnbombing on her own, originally for a charity event, but she never seemed to lose the knack for it and started doing it at night, always leaving a little ladybug button on her work. It took a while for people to connect all the dots, but now they eagerly anticipated her latest yarnbomb.

Meeting Chat Noir had been an accident. He was in the middle of a graffiti painting when she'd wandered by the bench he had tagged, frustrated that he ruined her plans for bombing that exact bench. They eventually worked together and decided on leaving little clues on when and where they'd be next on their shared Tumblr account, which led them to where they were now.

Ladybug relaxed as the footsteps faded, and the two started to laugh.

"Too much excitement, my lady?"

"Maybe a little." She hugged him tightly. "Thanks for another great night."

"Girls usually say that to me after I've heard them scream my name."

"Probably because they're angry that you're bad at pool."

"Scratching on the eight means I have eight more lives." He kissed her head and toyed with her pigtails. "Hey, can I see your phone?"

"Sure, why?"

He easily unlocked it—the password was _chat_ , after all—and dialed a number.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

He plucked his phone from his pocket and swiped to ignore the call. "There. Now you have my number." He grinned.

"And you have mine, jerk."

"Hey, it's easier than constantly checking online. Anyway, when will you have your next piece done?"

"Well, I don't have work for a couple of days, so next week sometime? Bring blues and purples. It's something yellow, and that'll make it _pop_."

"Where?"

"I was thinking near the Eiffel. I'll let you know more later."

"Alright. See you then."

" _Au revoir, chaton_."

* * *

Marinette woke up and yawned. Staying out so late with Chat had been a bad idea. Well, baddish. She didn't have work, so that was a plus, but Alya would insist that they go see the new artwork. Mari liked to, of course, but she was never as excited to see her own work. Sure, she liked to look at Chat's work for the first time in the light, but she hated returning to the scene of the crime. Alya, however, was not one to be dissuaded.

Alya dragged her out almost as soon as she got to Marinette's and pushed them both to the front of the small crowd so she could get good pictures. "I love that gradation. So well done in the yarn, and Chat Noir totally made it look awesome by doing that perfect background. I'm so posting these as soon as I get wifi."

"Why not right now?"

"I'm almost out of data."

"That's fair."

"Sh. I'm taking photos."

Marinette snickered and let her friend get super close and personal with the work. Not too many people minded; she was the outspoken owner of the Ladyblog, and most everybody knew she would be showing up at some point.

"Okay, I'm happy. Let's get out of here."

Marinette's phone buzzed softly, and she almost missed it. She turned the screen on and smiled when she saw the cat emoji she'd used as his contact name.

' _Hey bug, how's the publicity?'_

' _pretty public. saw the ladyblog girl taking some pics, hope they turn out'_

' _How's the next piece coming along? I think I have something new to try with all the blues you want'_

' _I'll work on it tomorrow. don't wanna rush it'_

' _Ok. See you whenever, lady.'_

' _Tuesday. 3 blocks northeast of the Eiffel. 12:30.'_

' _Isn't that technically Wednesday?'_

' _just don't be late, chaton.'_

"Marinette, quit texting and get ready to like my posts so it looks like I have activity."

"You're acting like you don't have an obnoxious amount of followers."

"Twelve thousand isn't that many. It's not even a full one percent of the population of Paris. Besides, the real Ladybug and Chat Noir have at least a hundred thousand."

"See? You have twelve percent of what they have, and you probably have some that they don't. Maybe they'll reblog something when you post this time. That should drive traffic. Either way, you're the most popular fan blog of theirs. Even if people aren't following, they've probably at least heard about the blog."

"True. It just feels like I could do better. Oh, praise whoever put a Starbucks here!" Alya ducked inside to order a coffee and quickly posted a few of the best pictures. "There. Now hurry up, like it!"

"I'm on it, gosh." Marinette pulled out her phone and liked and reblogged the post, adding a quick comment and a few tags. "Woah, someone liked it before I did."

"Who?"

Marinette held up a finger and quickly scrolled through the strange blog, searching for a selfie thanks to the vague title and description. "Holy crap. Adrien. It's Adrien Agreste. Adrien Agreste stalks the Ladyblog!"

Alya nearly choked on her coffee. "What?!"

"I'm serious, look! Tell me that's not a selfie on the Eiffel with Jagged Stone." Marinette turned her phone around so Alya could see it.

"I didn't know he was on Tumblr."

"I didn't, either. I'm following him now, though." She hit the button and scrolled back a few more posts before putting her phone down. "See? You don't need those artists to reblog it. You have _Adrien freaking Agreste._ "

"Right? I'm checking my follower count. _Oh la vache_ , it's gone up by fifteen already!"

"Pound it, girl."

Alya reciprocated the fist bump and put her phone down. "Okay, I'm not checking it for an hour. It's too much pressure."

"You'll be fine. I'll be right back. Gotta use the ladies room."

Once she was locked in the stall, Mari sent a quick text to Chat Noir. _'hey, adrien freaking agreste reblogged from the ladyblog. had no idea he was a fan!'_

' _I saw that! I reblogged it to our official blog, too'_

' _oh, that girl is gonna flip. first a supermodel and then paris' fav vandals…what a morning. but seriously, that supermodel likes our stuff! how cool is that?'_

' _Very cool!'_

' _gotta go, hanging out with a friend, see you next week'_

He sent her a cat and a ladybug, and she excused herself from the stall.

* * *

Adrien Freaking Agreste laughed to himself when Ladybug sent him that he'd reblogged something from the Ladyblog. Of _course_ he was a fan; he was the mysterious Chat Noir, the notorious graffiti artist who always signed his work with a cat stencil painted black.

His work had never been noticed until he'd teamed up with Ladybug that one night. He'd gotten bored, if he were being honest, and sneaking out of the house to paint the bench sounded like a great idea. When a small woman in a red hoodie started yelling at him, he almost ran, but then he saw the knitting supplies she'd brought— _crocheting_ , excuse him. She finally relented and let him have the bench. Half of it, anyway. She bombed the other half, teaching him how it was supposed to look seamless. In return, he helped her stencil his cat and made a quick ladybug stencil for her to paint on his work. She even had a cat button to put beside the ladybug. As they admired their work, he suggested that they do it more often. Thus, the Tumblr account was born.

Adrien noticed that his follower count had gone up, which was pretty surprising. Sure, he posted selfies with celebrities, but he never expected to be an account of great notice. He clicked on the new blog and scrolled through, finding the girl was really into fashion and an avid fan of the Ladyblog. She had occasional reblogs from their blog, but not much. He scrolled a little further and found a selfie with the Ladyblog girl. He liked the photo and followed the girl; might as well make the day of two fans.

' _Adrien, we're leaving for your next shoot in an hour.'_

Adrien sighed and stretched. They'd be upset that he looked a little tired, but they could definitely get over it. Makeup could fix most anything.

* * *

"I need you to look at the most recent post on the Ladyblog asap."

"What? Alya, do you even know what time it is? Gimme a sec. The sun isn't even up." Marinette squinted and clicked the speakerphone button. "You're on speaker. Let me get on Tumblr. Holy…what the hell?" Her stomach dropped. Someone had vandalized her work with a huge purple butterfly spray painted on top. The same mark was left over Chat Noir's. "Who the hell?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty pissed. Like, I understand that it's already vandalism, but it's pretty well accepted that they're not trying to be malicious. This is malicious. Like, what a jerk. It's not even a good butterfly."

"No…" Marinette sent a quick text to Chat Noir while Alya kept talking. _'check the ladyblog. it's urgent.'_

"I'm angry for them. I know they work hard on what they do, especially Ladybug. Knitting's not easy!"

"It's crocheting, Alya."

"You _would_ know. Anyway, point is, he's not gonna get away with it."

"You can't guarantee that."

A text popped up from Chat: _'Tell me it's a joke'_

' _I wish, doesn't look like it'_

' _I feel sick'_

' _same'_

"Marinette, are you even listening?"

"Sorry. I'm just tired. You woke me up stupid early."

"I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep, and I checked my inbox and I found that. Now I _really_ can't sleep."

Mari yawned. "It's fine. I'm gonna get off, though. I need more sleep before work."

"Wanna go for coffee after work?"

"Mm. Maybe. Later, Alya." She hung up before Alya could say anything else and popped her head up when her phone meowed—she'd set that as her text tone for Chat.

' _What are we gonna do about the butterfly jerk?'_

' _don't know, chaton. probably just make more art. I'll plan something really cool after we finish the next piece. gotta get more sleep before work'_

' _I thought you didn't work today.'_

Marinette rubbed her eyes and thought hard about it. He was right. _'in that case, I just want more sleep. we'll talk later'_

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir met up at the Eiffel a few nights later, both full of nervous energy. Would _Papillion—_ as everyone was calling him—strike their work again?

"What's the plan for tonight, bug?"

"Oh, it's a good one. I changed my original plan a little, but it still works with what I told you to bring."

"Care to share?"

"You'll see when we get there."

* * *

 _A/N: Hey all! I'm back with yet another au fic because I'm awful. I hope you like it! I'm posting it early because I'm just too excited. Updates will likely come on Wednesdays; This should be pretty regular for a while because I have the first ten chapters finished already. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think! Love you all! -wwot_


	2. The Sun and the Moon

"There! Stop! It's perfect!"

Ladybug took a step back from their work and motioned for Chat Noir to step aside. From that angle—and that angle only—the crocheted sun was kissing the forlorn moon, which shimmered from the wet paint.

"Want me to add some silver touches?"

"That would be great. Hold on, let me make sure it's good from this angle." She made a wide arc until the painted moon was kissing the oblivious sun. "Oh gosh, Chat. It's great. You've outdone yourself. Yes, I know it's usually what women say after a lengthy night in bed. No need to remind me."

He grinned and shook the can before adding the appropriate silver accents. "How's that?"

"Beautiful, Chat."

"Just like you."

"You don't even know what my face looks like without all this face paint."

"True enough. You don't know what mine looks like, either. I could be model-worthy."

"Oh! I didn't tell you! Adrien Agreste followed the Ladyblog. I was in the same coffee shop as Alya when it happened."

"Alya?"

"The girl who runs it. I, uh, recognized her and asked her. Anyway, move. I wanna get some pictures without compromising our identities."

"Oh, the press would have a field day."

"For sure." She took a few pictures with and without flash, making sure to get both angles. "Do these look okay?"

"Yep."

"Cool. I'll text them to you so you can post them. You're better at tagging than I am." She looked at the clock and fully realized the time. "Woah, two thirty."

"Right? It's so easy to get lost in the time when you're creating. Thanks for the idea on this, by the way. I would've made them kissing, but this idea is so much better. They love each other, but they don't even know it."

"I think it's a sad idea. They're a perfect match, but they only love what the other half considers to be their worse side."

"Tragic. Do you think they'll end up together?"

"Only time will tell."

* * *

Marinette awoke to her alarm, and she definitely hadn't gotten enough sleep. She read a text from Alya, who had already been by the newest art. Alya loved it, of course, and her sunrise pictures were even better than the ones Chat had posted for her from the night before.

She drank coffee while she went over her agenda for the day. Most everything was normal, but then she saw her two o'clock appointment.

 _Interview with Adrien Agreste._

Below were notes about how he took his coffee and where they wanted her to meet him. She sent a text to Alya to calm her nerves and prayed that she wouldn't screw it up. She'd get notes about the subject later, and she tried to convince herself that this was just another interview.

Work zoomed by in the wake of her anxiety, and soon enough she was picking up two of what Adrien liked so she didn't mix them up. Was he picky about that stuff? She hoped not, but she didn't want to chance it. Crap, should she have gotten three?

She stood in front of him and offered a hand. "Adrien Agreste! I'm here from _Tendance Inspirer_ for the interview. My name's Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

He stood up and took one of her hands in both of his and kissed her cheek. "It's excellent to meet you."

"And you! You followed me on Tumblr last week!" Mari felt her cheeks enflame. "That was not something I was gonna say."

He laughed. "You must be 'maribug-seven-six-three.'"

"Yeah. Oh, I brought you coffee!" She held out the carrier to him. "They're both the same so they didn't get mixed up."

"That's sweet of you. Here, take a seat." He gestured to the park bench and took a sip of coffee to hide his excitement that this was the very bench where he'd met Ladybug for the first time. It was why he'd wanted to meet there, not that Marinette would know that little detail.

Marinette, unbeknownst to him, was quelling the same excitement as she pulled out her notes. "Gotta say, I was pretty shocked when I found your Tumblr. My best friend runs the Ladyblog, and I saw that someone liked the post before I did, and I was sitting beside her when she posted it."

"So _that's_ how you found me."

"Oh, shut up. You followed me back! I mean, don't shut up. I'm sorry. I'm trying to ask you questions, and I don't want you to shut up. And now I'm rambling…"

Adrien laughed. "Don't worry about it. I've had worse interviews. Tell me, what two letters together mean nothing?"

"Uh…I don't know. What?"

"M-T."

Marinette rolled her eyes, clearly relaxing. "That was awful, Adrien."

The rest of the interview went off without a hitch, and Marinette was about to leave when he stopped her.

"So, can I have your number? I wanna check up on the article you're writing."

"Um, I'm technically not allowed to give out my personal number. Is my work number okay? It texts and calls and stuff. It gets forwarded to my regular phone, too."

"That's perfect. My agent says I'm not allowed to give mine out, either."

"Do you ever?"

"No. I like having an agent." He laughed and handed his phone to her so she could put the number in.

"There. And here's mine." She handed him her phone and laughed when she saw what he'd saved himself as. "Adrien _'Freaking_ ' Agreste?"

" _C'est moi!_ It's something a friend of mine calls me sometimes. She's pretty cool."

"Oh, is it a girlfriend?"

Adrien blushed. "Oh, no. No. I wish, but she's pretty independent. She doesn't know."

"Adrien Freaking Agreste can't get a girlfriend because he's too nervous to ask her on a date? Seriously, just ask her. I'm sure she'd love you. You're handsome, you're good at what you do, and you're a painter in your spare time. People dig artists. I dig you. I'd go out with you if you asked. Wait. _La vache_ , I didn't mean to say that! I'm sorry!"

He reached over and tucked a hair behind her ear. "No biggie. Cute earrings, by the way."

Marinette blushed. "Oh, thank you. I made them. I like designing _way_ more than working for a magazine, but hey, at least it's in fashion." She ducked her head, pretending to look at her papers. "Anyway, I need to get going. I have a deadline for a spread in a few hours that I haven't started." She stood up and extended her hand. "Thank you again. We'll keep in touch."

Adrien shook it. "Thanks for the coffee."

* * *

Marinette glanced at the clock before starting a new topic of conversation; half ten wasn't nearly as bad as what it usually was. "New life dream, _chaton_. I want to yarnbomb the Eiffel."

"But I can't paint it with you, LB."

"I know, but imagine how cool it would be."

"How long would it take you?"

"Oh, years if I did it between other stuff. Even if I did that exclusively, I think it would take beyond my lifetime to do it. I'd need to ask for help if I were ever serious about it."

"Why don't you?"

"They're in the middle of painting it. Besides, it would require meeting people. I don't really like working with people that aren't you." She shrugged even though he couldn't see the gesture over the phone.

"I'm flattered you think that about me."

"Well, there's this pretty cute guy I interviewed for work. I guess I wouldn't mind working with him, but he already has his sights set on another lucky lady."

"Too bad. I'd date you."

"Would you really, Chat?"

"Of course. You know I would."

"Well, yeah. I just can't tolerate your puns enough for that."

"Do you find them _cat_ -rocious?"

" _Chat_."

His laughter was so loud that she took the earbud out of her ear and held it out a few inches until he quieted down.

"Easy, Chat. I'd like to not lose my hearing by my next birthday. Then again, I wouldn't have to hear your puns anymore."

"You don't mean that, LB.'

"No, I could never mean that. You're one of four people who can make me laugh on the whole planet. Excluding people I haven't met personally."

"Four? That's gone up."

"Yeah, that one kid I interviewed. I say 'kid' like he isn't my age."

"Did you get his number?"

" _He_ actually asked _me_. Jealous?"

"A little. But I thought you said he had his sights on another woman. Unless you don't mind being the second fiddle, no judgement here."

"What? No. That's ridiculous. I want to be the only fiddle, thank you very much."

"Oh, so that's okay, but my puns aren't?" Marinette could hear the smile in his voice.

"Pretty much. Anyway, I think it'll be a couple of weeks before the next thing is done. I'm kind of planning on a monster bench, and I was hoping you'd paint the other half."

"Anything you want, my lady. Color palette?"

"I'm not sure yet. Warm colors, probably, but I'm not one hundred percent decided."

"Alright. I'll doodle plenty of monsters and decide which one will look best with your lovely masterpiece."

"I haven't even finished the eyes—that you haven't seen, by the way—and you're calling it a masterpiece. What even, Chat."

"Just expressing confidence in you."

"Thanks. I really need to get to bed; the interview drained me."

"Sleep well, dear Lady."

"G'night, Chat."

* * *

"No, not again!" Marinette was scrolling through Tumblr on her lunch break when she saw what had happened to their latest creation. Papillion had cut the sun into shreds and painted another purple butterfly over the moon—poorly, at that.

A coworker raised their head.

"Sorry, just upset over some vandalism to a particular artwork."

"Oh, what Papillion did to Ladybug's work? Tragic, isn't it?"

"I think it's awful. Like, they work so hard on their stuff. It's really terrible."

"Oh yeah. Get a life, butterfly guy."

"Yeah, get a life." Marinette wouldn't admit it, but that gave her a confidence boost. It helped keep her stomach in check when she sent a quick message to Chat Noir. _'papillion strikes again'_

' _Saw that. I have something in mind before we do something together again'_

' _go for it, maybe it'll help'_

* * *

It didn't help. Chat Noir's latest piece was a black cat pouncing on a butterfly. There was a tiny ladybug on the cat's nose, and it looked as if it were barely landing.

"Marinette, did you see Chat Noir's graffiti?" Alya was too excited to keep her phone in the right spot on her ear, and Marinette could hear the difference.

"Graffito, and yes."

"He's totally declaring war on Papillion. Weird that it's just him, though."

"Uh, Ladybug probably hasn't had time to make something else yet. And she might not even agree with Chat."

"Maybe, but why would there be a ladybug in it if she didn't?"

"Maybe. It's not like they have to agree on everything, you know."

"True. I wanna wait and see what Papillion does about it; it's bound to be good."

"Papillion's track record is crappy butterflies in a gaudy purple. Metallic purple, at that. That's probably what he's going to do. Or she, I guess."

"I'm pretty sure it's a he. I got a few messages from one weird Tumblr, and all they post is a crappy butterfly done over someone else's work. Anyway, the photos are all taken at night, which is when Papillion strikes, and there's a couple pics with a hand that's clearly the photographer's, and it's a very masculine hand."

"Okay, so Papillion is _probably_ a man. Or their accomplice is a man."

"Huh, true. Never thought of it that way."

"Or someone who's very lucky."

"Yeah, or that. Shoot, Mari. Can you quit debunking my theories with logical responses?"

She laughed. "Sorry, Alya. You know I'm out to ruin all your fun."

"Whatever. Hey, I'll catch you later. Heading into an interview."

"Good luck!"

* * *

 _A/N: In my research for this chapter (trying to determine how much time it would take to knit/crochet something that would cover the external surface area of the Eiffel Tower), I learned that it takes approximately 60 tons of paint to completely paint the Eiffel Tower (my source is the official Eiffel Tower website). That's a little over nine African elephants (9.23 to be more exact). It's also done every seven years, apparently. Shows you what I know about Paris._

 _Also, I'm overwhelmed by the positive response you all gave me! It means so much me that you enjoyed the first chapter, so I'm posting this one early. Happy July Fourth! Love you all! -wwot_


	3. The Interview

Adrien Freaking Agreste.

Ever since Ladybug had sent him that, he'd taken a liking to it. He owned the title, and it played well to the camera.

"Excellent work, Adrien. I always knew you had that extra something in you. Your father will be thrilled to see these."

"Thanks. I appreciate your hard work." Adrien waved and walked off the set, desperately hoping there was a message from Ladybug about his most recent work.

' _what were you thinking?'_

He stopped dead. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have added the ladybug at the last second, but he didn't think she'd be too upset. He called her and kept walking.

"I have five minutes before lunch is over, so make it quick."

She didn't _sound_ angry, so that was a start. "Are you mad at me?"

"A little, but I get it. You want to put forth the idea that we're a united front. But we need to be careful; we have no idea who we're actually dealing with here, and that kinda scares me."

"It shouldn't. I'll protect you. I'll have you know that I am a _fine_ fencer."

"Depends on which sword you're talking about."

"So puns aren't okay, but innuendos are?"

"Only if I make them." She laughed. "I'm kidding, you just don't make good ones."

"How is an innuendo good or bad?" Adrien climbed into the backseat and whispered, "Home, please," to his driver.

"I'm not totally sure, but we'll have to do a study on it. Anyway, I have to go. Deadlines to meet and bills to pay. Peace."

"Ciao, _chérie_." Adrien leaned his head back and smiled to himself. _Adrien Freaking Agreste indeed._

* * *

Marinette was walking home when she saw the painting. A huge butterfly was capturing a ladybug while a cat tried to reach them—to no avail. She pulled out her phone and texted two people an address and the message, _'you need to see this.'_

* * *

Alya arrived in no time. "So, he _can_ paint, he just chooses not to."

"Or she."

"Or she. Whatever, Marinette. Point is, they're just being a jerk for the fun of it."

"Are you going to post it?"

"I'll do a write up on it, but I don't want to bring it more attention than it needs. It feels like an injustice to the duo. Hey, you know what would be cool?"

"What?"

"Getting an interview with them. I know they still post on Tumblr and stuff, but it's just not enough."

"Why don't you try sending a message to them?"

"Mari, you're a genius." Alya tapped on her phone for a minute while leaning against the tree that formerly held the sun. "Alright. Done."

Marinette's phone meowed, and she rushed to silence it.

"What was that?"

"Oh, just a, um, work friend. Thought I needed a cat as their text tone because they, uh, have lots of cats. I don't mind so much because we're working on a joint project right now, so it's really not a problem to hear it all the time." She glanced at it, but decided that Chat's message could wait. "I'll get it later."

"If you say so. Anyway, will you come with me?"

"Probably. For what?"

"If I get an exclusive interview with Ladybug and Chat Noir! I know you want to meet them."

"Well, yeah, but what if I have a work conflict?"

"Oh, whatever. I'll assume you're coming unless something else comes up."

"Ugh, fine. Just leave me out if it's past midnight."

"Why would it be past midnight?"

"Uh. I'm guessing they like the cover of darkness, since they do everything at night."

"True. Anyway, let's get going; I'm hungry, and this has done nothing to fix that."

* * *

"Chat, there is no way I can do the interview without having to reveal myself. I'm not going."

"What if we did it at night?"

"So? She'd still recognize my voice."

"How many times have you met her?"

"Uh. Quite a few. She knows my name, and while I think she's trustworthy, I'm not prepared to reveal myself to anybody just yet."

"Even though she idolizes you?"

"Even though she idolizes me." Marinette twirled the earbud she didn't have in. "I'm really sorry, Chat. I'll try and think of something, but I can't make any promises."

"If we're gonna be interviewed by anybody, let's hope it's by her. She seems pretty cool, and that thing she wrote about the butterfly capturing the ladybug was really good. I really don't want to do it without you. I wouldn't be famous for this if you hadn't bumped into me."

"Not true. It might not have been so fast, but I do think you'd get some recognition."

"Thanks, bug. That's sweet of you."

"What can I say? I'm only the sweetest ladybug you'll ever meet." Marinette giggled. "You're rubbing off on me. No way am I letting Alya know that."

"Who?"

"The Ladyblog girl. I've said her name before. Besides, it's all over her blog."

"You're friends with her, aren't you?"

"No!" A blatant lie.

"How did I not see it before? Tell me, have you been on her blog before?"

"Ugh. Chat, she doesn't have any pictures of me on her blog." The honest truth.

"If you say so." He sounded skeptical, but he knew she was telling the truth. She'd probably requested that her picture never show up on the blog, which was fair. Some people hated having their face plastered over everything in the world. He, on the other hand, didn't mind so much.

"I _do_ say so. She might if we do the interview, but that still won't help you with my identity."

"Won't it?"

She sighed loudly, as though conceding something. "Would you like a hint?"

She could hear him sitting up as though the question was a great shock. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"LB, I'd _love_ a hint."

"I have dark hair."

She laughed, sure that he was flopping back over with great disappointment. "Something I don't already know."

"Okay, fine. When I'm not working or preparing for a yarnbomb or hanging out with friends, I like making jewelry in my spare time."

"Jewelry. Huh. Okay, I can work with that. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I really need to get to sleep early tonight, Chat. You make your own plans with Alya, and I'll see if I can make it. But no promises."

"Whatever. I know you won't leave me hanging. Goodnight, bug."

"Goodnight, _chaton_."

* * *

"Chat Noir?"

"Yes, Alya! The Ladyblog girl!"

Alya blushed at the recognition. "Yeah, that's me. Will Ladybug be joining us tonight?"

"Yes, but she's running a little late. It's unlike her. Anyway, let's sit and chat until she gets here." He gestured to the bench.

"Any particular reason you requested this specific bench?"

"Well, it's the first place we met. Ladybug doesn't have her latest thing quite ready, so we thought we'd find a neutral place. And there she is! How are you, Lady?"

She made vague gestures to her throat and mouth and eventually resorted to sending Chat a text.

"What is it?"

"She says that she has laryngitis. Yes or no questions are preferred, but she can always text me something, right?"

She held up a thumb and sat beside Chat.

"Let's get started. I have tons of questions for you guys! How did you meet?"

"It all started when I had the great idea to follow her around one night—hey! Gosh! I'll tell the right story!" He laughed and relaxed. "It all started with this bench. I'd been bored and decided to paint it, but she happened upon me and about cut my throat out when she saw what I'd done. She'd been planning to do this same bench, and we eventually reached a compromise of half and half on the bench. You know what they say, great minds think alike—hold on, she said something. 'And fools rarely differ.' Thanks, Lady."

She grinned at him while Alya laughed and scribbled something down. "What made you keep working together?"

"I guess it was my idea, but she seemed to like the idea. Is that right?"

Ladybug held up a thumb and nodded.

"Anyway, I guess we liked the foray into a different medium. She tells me that she's painted before, but I've never tried yarn crafts before. I guess that's what you call them…"

Ladybug gave an affirmative gesture and motioned for Chat to keep talking.

"Um, yeah. I just like watching her work. She provides a lot of direction for us, which is fair. It takes a lot more planning for her stuff, so sometimes I just bring whatever colors she wants and follow what she wants to a T. Sometimes it's more like, 'Here's the palette I had in mind, but you don't have to follow it because I'm not in love with it,' or, 'What if we did our own interpretation of turtles?' That kind of stuff."

"I loved those turtles, by the way. One of my favorites from you guys."

"Thanks." They both smiled at her, genuinely enjoying themselves.

They talked for another ten or fifteen minutes, but Alya didn't write nearly as much down. She already knew what she wanted to say except for one last thing.

"So, before I leave, I gotta know. Are you guys a couple?"

Chat laughed while Ladybug shot him a look. "No, we're not. It would be nice, dating the most famous vandal in all of Paris, but alas…" He gave a dramatic sigh and clutched his chest.

"You're quite the charmer, Chat. Anyway, I think I have everything I need. I'll run it by you guys before I post it." She stood up and held out her hand. "It was nice to meet you both. Maybe we can do this again sometime!"

They all shook hands before Alya left.

Chat leaned close and whispered, "Laryngitis? Really?"

* * *

"'A few days ago, I had the privilege of meeting with Ladybug and Chat Noir for an exclusive interview. Ladybug was feeling under the weather and joined us anyway, though she couldn't talk from her illness.'"

"Wow, she made that sound a lot nicer than I would've expected." She pressed her cheek to Chat's shoulder and read with him while he spoke aloud.

"Right? 'I get the impression from them that they love what they do and that they have a close friendship.' What a nice thing to say."

"Well, she's not wrong."

"Huh?"

"We do have a close friendship. We may not know a whole lot about each other, but I really value your friendship. Sometimes I feel like we come from vastly different worlds, but I also know that we met for a reason."

"What do you think that reason is?"

"I'm honestly not sure. I just know there is one." She shrugged and tucked herself closer to Chat, fighting the chill in the air.

"Well, thanks." He shifted so his arm wouldn't lose circulation, but he stayed close to her. "Doing okay, snuggle bug?"

"I think so. My temperature balance feels a little off, but I've been stressed with work stuff lately. It's probably my body's way of saying that I need a day off."

"Will you take one?"

"Not unless I have to. I have a lot of stuff to do this week. Like, six articles need finished. That's gonna be a load of fun." She sighed. "Oh well."

"Next week. Promise me you'll take a day off next week whether or not you have one this week."

"I promise. I know that I really do need a break."

"Good. I'd hate for you to get sick from the stress or anything."

"Thank you, Chat." Ladybug stood up and stretched. "I should get going. I'll read the rest of the article another time, though it was fun to watch for it with you."

He gently caught her wrist and stood up. "Wait a sec."

"Yeah?"

He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Thank you. I needed to hear those things tonight." Chat dropped Ladybug's wrist and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry if that was too forward."

"No, no. Don't be. I think I needed that, too. I'll, um. I'll see you, Chat. Have a good night." She waved as she walked off, thankful that the red paint on her face would help hide the blush creeping through her skin.

* * *

 _A/N: This is the last chapter going up this week, for real this time! I really love all of your reviews; they make me feel so special. I reread them all the time. Literally. I sent the link to my best friend and made her read them, too. Anyway, thank you for reading. I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far! -wwot_


	4. The Sick Day

Marinette coughed and wheezed. What sick irony had brought this upon her? Sure, she deserved it for lying to Alya about being ill, but now her throat really _was_ sore. As if that weren't bad enough, Adrien Freaking Agreste was calling her.

"Hello?" She cursed her squeaky voice.

"Maribug? Are you there?"

"Yes, Monsieur Agreste."

"Call me Adrien. Monsieur Agreste is my father." He laughed. "You sound sick."

"I am. How can I help you today?"

"I was calling about the article, but it's sounding like you don't have it done."

The article. Oh, she'd completely forgotten about the article between everything else, and it was due in a few short days.

"Marinette?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry. I've had a lot on my mind, and I forgot about it. Damn, am I allowed to say that? I didn't mean to offend you or hurt your feelings. I'm sorry."

"Mari, calm down. Text me your address. I will bring you some soup, and we can work on the article together. After all, I think I know myself pretty well."

"Uh…"

"What?"

"It's just…are you allergic to animals?"

"Just birds."

"Okay. I have a hamster, so I was just making sure."

"I have a cat. Maybe they can have a playdate sometime. Anyway, I just got your message. I'll be over in an hour or two. Stay well until then! See you!" A smile rang in his voice.

"See you…" Marinette fully comprehended that _Adrien Freaking Agreste_ was coming to her house when she was sick after the call clicked off. She'd already called in with _Tendance Inspirer_ and promised to work on everything from home, but now she needed to clean, so she dragged herself to the living room and cleared off the couch, starting with the blankets that would be _so_ warm if she snuggled under them…

She definitely didn't clean. She awoke to her doorbell ringing and shuffled out with a blanket still around her shoulders, and she froze when she opened the door.

True to his word, Adrien was standing there. "I wasn't sure what soup you liked, so I got three different kinds." He held up a bag, indicating the soups. "May I come in?"

Marinette nodded and backed out of his way. _I'm lucky we're not fifteen anymore. Oh, the posters!_

"I'm setting these on the counter until they cool down. How does cream of potato sound to start?"

"Good. Thank you." She shuffled her way to her couch and curled up. "You're being awful nice to a girl who interviewed you." She sniffled and wiped her nose on her shoulder.

"My schedule was free. It's my act of charity for the week." He grinned though she couldn't see it, opening drawers until he found the one with spoons. He walked over and handed them to her. "For you, fair princess."

"I'm fairly sick, but I'm hardly fair. Thanks, though." She struggled to get comfortable but didn't protest.

Adrien glanced around the room. "What's your hamster's name?"

She swallowed and said, "Tikki."

"Do you want me to feed her?"

"Oh, please. Poor thing probably hasn't been fed all day. I barely made it here from my bed."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for. Feeding you _and_ your hamster." Adrien guessed how much food he was supposed to dole out—he figured too much was better than too little—and went to tidy up her kitchen. Soon enough, he heard gentle snoring coming from the couch. He took the bowl and put it on the coffee table for when she woke up and picked Tikki up out of her cage to play with her. "You would like Plagg," he whispered to the reddish rodent. "He's a cat, and the biggest pain sometimes, but he's pretty cool most of the time. But sometimes I swear he likes camembert cheese more than anything else in the world." Adrien pet Tikki again and eventually put her back after feeding her some more. Heck, Mari probably wasn't about to do it.

He had nothing better to do, so he searched around for a blanket and a book to curl up with. Then he found her crocheting supplies. And, peeking out beside everything else, something red.

Ladybug's next project was something red.

 _Surely it's just a coincidence_ , he told himself. _There are plenty of girls in Paris who crochet, and I happen to know two who are working on something red. Nothing more than that._

Adrien got a text from his agent. Something about a last-minute shoot, _blah blah blah_. He couldn't ignore it, but he couldn't just leave...

He muttered to himself while he wrote a quick note. "Maribug, Emergency call from my agent. Hope you'll let me come back. Get well soon, Adrien." He folded it and left it propped up where she would see it, locking the door on his way out.

* * *

Marinette called Alya a little while after she woke up and brought her up to speed on her day.

"You're telling me that Adrien Agreste came over to your place with soup, did your dishes, _fed your hamster_ , and then left a note? All because he wanted to check on the article you forgot about?"

"I guess so."

"Mari, that's one hundred and three percent completely bizarre."

"I know, I know. He's just so nice, Alya. I think I'm starting to fall for him again."

"Be careful. It took you literal years to get over him in the first place, breaking that one artist kid's heart in the process. Thank goodness Nino stopped you from your destructive ways."

"He set me up on a blind date with a gay guy." She sounded entirely unamused.

"Yeah, that was pretty unfortunate. He was more attracted to Nino. Whoops!"

"You don't really sound sincere."

"Wanna know a secret?"

Marinette sighed. "What?"

"Nino knew he was gay when he set you up."

"Alya!"

She laughed and continued. "But I'm serious, Mari. Be careful. You were in love with him for how long?"

"A long time, and I get it, but I was in love with the idea of him before. Now that I've actually met the guy and he's not a piece of crap, it makes me feel a little different about him. Like maybe I wasn't wrong before. Granted, I've had exactly zero chance with him until this past month, but he's also interested in someone else. So, still close to zero, but there's always that slim possibility."

"Just be careful."

"I am!"

"Sure you are. And how weird is it you got sick not that long after Ladybug? I must've carried it to you."

Marinette felt her face go warm, and she knew it wasn't from the fever. "Yeah. How funny."

"Didn't know I had to watch who I hung out with! I thought your immune system was usually better than that."

"I guess not this time."

"Well, I'll warn you next time just in case. Oh, hey, that's work calling me. I'll talk to you later." Alya hung up without giving Mari the chance to answer.

Marinette sat there for a few minutes, trying to muster enough strength to get one of the other soups Adrien had brought for her. She eventually stumbled over to her fridge and picked out the one that looked the most like chicken noodle. She warmed it and flopped back down on her couch, surprised that Tikki's water had been filled even though Adrien had fed her. _Marinette, that's just dumb._

Her phone meowed, causing her to jump. _'Are we still on for tonight?'_

Oh. _Oh._

' _I'm really sorry chaton, I'm feeling out of it today. I'll let you know when I start improving.'_

' _No problem. Feel better!'_ He sent a little ladybug next to a cup of tea with his message.

' _thanks'_

Marinette sighed and glanced over at the unfinished project. _Well, might as well finish it._ She picked up the yarn, looped it over her finger, and started poking the hook where it belonged, counting all the while.

* * *

"Marinette, did you get that article on the Agreste kid done?"

"Yeah. Here." She handed over the papers. "Not sure they're in order, but they're numbered." She yawned and coughed into her elbow. "Sorry, Carine. I'm still getting better from whatever bug I caught."

"No big deal. Take care of yourself. I'll let you know what edits we need to make by the end of the day."

"Sounds good. What else do you have for me to work on?"

"Nothing right now. Just hang out and rest. I know you're going to try and do too much otherwise." Carine smiled and waved. "Keep up the good work."

Marinette waved back and laid her head on her desk.

"Special delivery for Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

She groaned and sat up. "Nino! What are you doing here?"

He held out a cup of soup and a cup of coffee. "I hear if a man wants to get in your good graces, he needs to bring you soup."

"Oh, Alya's gonna get it."

Nino laughed and put everything on her desk. "I heard she told you I knew Greg was gay, and I wanted to make it up to you."

"Depends on what kind of soup you got me."

"Pizza soup."

"Good man!" She stood up and kissed his cheek. "I appreciate it."

"Alya might not like that so much."

"Alya can deal. I have pizza soup for now and coffee for later." She peeled the lid off of the soup cup and found a spoon in one of her drawers. "Alya had to have made this. It's too perfect."

"She did, but it's been a while since we've hung out."

"I know. I hate our opposite work schedules. I miss when the three of us used to hang out all the time." Marinette cleared a spot on her desk for Nino to sit since she didn't have extra chairs.

"I only get to see Alya because I live with her." He sat and leaned back on his hands. "Anyway, what's new with you?"

"Well, apparently Adrien Freaking Agreste is my new best friend. See?" Marinette held out her phone to display the numerous texts he'd sent to check on her and ask her how she liked the soup he'd brought. She slurped on the soup the whole time.

"Damn. He seems interested."

"He told me he was interested in someone else when I interviewed him."

"Marinette, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure he has a thing for you. Might be you and the other girl, but definitely you."

Marinette gave a dramatic sigh and made a show of leaning her head on Nino's knee. He obliged and patted her head, gently tugging on her ponytail after a minute. She huffed, and that made him smile.

"Men, am I right?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." Marinette gently pushed herself off of his knee and returned to her soup. "Tell Alya I said thanks, by the way. This is beyond excellent."

"I will. I think she added oregano this time."

"Oregano! _That's_ what it needed!" She smelled it. "Oh yeah, that was it."

"She'd tell you that you need more spices in your pantry."

"Oh, whatever. Like I care. She comes over and makes half my food anyway. She worries too much."

"That she does."

"Did she tell you to bring the coffee?"

"Nope. That was my idea."

Marinette grinned. "You two are too good to me."

"Nah. You're good to us, too. You keep us grounded and remind us to do little things, like pay bills and sort the laundry."

"I can't believe that you guys don't."

"Alya can't believe that you can cook without basil. I can't believe you like having an animal in your house."

"True. I guess it's how we're all friends or something."

"Why don't you invite your new friend Adrien to go out with us? You wouldn't have to be part of the tricycle anymore."

"On a bicycle built for four? As long as you're not in the lead."

"Hey, that was one time!"

"One time too many." Marinette hit the bottom of the cup to get the last piece of pepperoni and squealed when it hit her nose.

"Serves you right."

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

 _A/N: Happy Wednesday! Pizza soup, if you've not tried it, is actually pretty good. You take tomato soup, get it halfway cooked, and then add pepperoni and cheese (we usually use cheddar and parmesan) sprinkled on top. Cook it the rest of the way, stir, and add crackers or goldfish and more cheese of your choice. It's literally like pizza in a soup. I don't even like soup, and I like pizza soup. Anyway, let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading! -wwot_


	5. The Counselor, or, the Therapist

"There!" Ladybug stepped back from her work. "What do you think?"

"Beautiful Lady."

"I didn't hear the comma in that sentence."

"Maybe there wasn't one." Chat gently looped an arm around her shoulders from behind and rested his chin on her head.

She reached up and held onto his arm with both hands. "Oh, come on. You know I've been having a nice time with that guy."

"Doesn't mean I can't be affectionate."

"True. I like it, besides. Just watch my boundaries."

"I will, but you need to watch his, too. He said he was interested in someone else and keeps emphasizing that point, apparently."

"I know, I know. But he checks on me all the time." She stepped away a little and turned to face Chat. "It's confusing. Like, what's he thinking? He says he's interested in her, but then he comes over and brings me food and texts me to have a good day. I don't get it, Chat." She hugged him. "I'm sorry. It's not okay of me to complain to you of all people."

"It's okay. I'm kind of doing it to some girl myself."

"You are?"

"Uh, yeah. I met her for work, and she was really cute, and I bring her stuff all the time and text her and stuff, but I'm not sure if I'm stringing her along or what. From your point of view, it totally sounds like it, but she also hasn't made a move on me." He shifted to hold her closer. "I'm sorry you're interested in an apparent idiot."

"I'm sorry _you're_ interested in an apparent idiot."

"She's pretty okay. Well, both of them."

Ladybug released Chat and rubbed her arms to warm up. "What do you like about the new girl?"

"Well, she's different. Funny, genuine. Too much like you."

"Too much?"

"It's probably why I'm drawn to her."

"Makes sense." Ladybug sat on a nearby bench and traced the lines Chat had sprayed with her eyes while he photographed their work. "You've outdone yourself with this one. It looks amazing. I know I said that last time, but now I really mean it."

"That's why I sent a message to the Ladyblog with the exact location. I want her to get good pictures as soon as possible."

"That's a good idea. I hope people ignore mine. It's not my best work, especially since I was sick."

"Not doing yourbest doesn't mean it's bad."

"You have a good point, but I don't like putting anything out that's not the best I could do."

Chat sat beside her. "You were sick. You did the best you could under the circumstances, so that makes it your best whether or not it was your best compared to another time in your life before or after."

"I hadn't thought of it that way."

He shrugged. "Just something I learned at work once. Learned it the hard way, too. Nobody else was too happy about it because I did an awful job that day, but it was eye-opening. Anyway, you did the best you could, even if it was bad. Who cares about the rest?"

Ladybug nodded, clearly lost in thought.

They sat quietly for a while until Chat looked at the time. "It's about three in the morning, bug. I'll walk you to your car."

She turned and gave him a confused look. "How did you know I drove here?"

"Your keys jingled when you walked."

"Wow. Okay. Um, do you need a ride anywhere? I'm not going to work until later, so I can take you somewhere closer to where you're ending up."

"A ride would be great. Where did you park?"

"About three blocks north." She pointed in the general direction. "Do you have everything?"

"Yep."

"Alright. Let's go." She reached over and took his hand. "Is that alright?"

"You will hug me and let me kiss your cheek and play with your hair, and you think I'd draw the line at you holding my hand. Yes, that's the literal one thing I wouldn't let you do if you asked." He squeezed her hand to give her the reassurance that he wasn't going to let go.

"Well, it never hurts to ask."

"Of course not. But you don't need to ask with me unless you're uncomfortable. Deal?"

"Deal."

They were mostly quiet on the way to her car, though Chat did give her brief directions to where he was going. The ride itself was silent except for when he gave more specific directions.

"Chat?"

"Yes, Lady?"

"What do you see in me?"

He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to answer the question. "Well. I like that you use your talent for good. I like that you're creative in more ways than one, and I like how bold you are."

"I'm not bold. I haven't even told my best friend I'm the mysterious Ladybug. I'm actually terrified of people finding out how ordinary I am. Like they wouldn't believe that little old me is some girl they've literally never seen and yet somehow idolize."

"You're a fine woman, Lady. I promise. I know lots of women our age who don't care about things, who don't express themselves so freely about anything. If admitting your fears isn't boldness, I don't know what is."

"Do you work as a counselor or therapist or something?"

"I do not. I'm just good at giving advice." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"From experience?"

"Right."

"Good to know."

"No, turn right at the next street."

"Oh, shoot." She decelerated a tad too quickly for her comfort level, but she made the turn beautifully.

"Nicely done."

"Thanks. Learned that little trick from Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift."

"Have you ever tried it before?"

"Admittedly, no. But I've never had a good opportunity to until just now."

"I also didn't know you were a Fast and Furious fan."

"I'm not. I was sick a few years back and it was the only thing on that was remotely good." She readjusted her grip on the wheel.

"That makes a lot more sense." Chat rubbed his eyes, finally aware how tired he was. Some of the black came off on his hands. "I didn't realize this came off so easily without water."

"I use a setting powder. Usually takes care of most of it, especially when it gets humid."

"I usually do. Forgot to tonight."

"Well, that happens. Left or right?"

"Left."

"Thank you." Ladybug started to turn but braked suddenly when a car without its lights on cut in front of her. "What the hell?!" She pulled over and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"You alright?"

"I think so. Wasn't expecting that at all." She leaned on the steering wheel, her forehead on her hands. "What in the hell were they thinking?"

"I have no idea." Chat reached over and rubbed her neck and back. "Do you need me to drive?"

"Maybe in a minute. That really threw me off. Wait, can you drive standard?"

"Well enough. I've done it before, but my car's automatic."

"Just don't screw up my transmission. I can't afford to get anything fixed."

"I'll get it fixed for you if something happens to it." He got out and walked around while she scooted across the seats.

"Don't forget that you have the clutch to do, too." Ladybug leaned on the dash the same way she'd leaned on the steering wheel. "And please don't drive erratically. I don't think I could handle that."

"No problem."

Chat, much to her surprise, was a good driver. So much so that she almost fell asleep by the time he pulled over to get out. "Are you good to drive home?"

Ladybug yawned. "Yeah, I am. Sorry for making you drive."

"Don't be. I would've done the same thing."

"That's comforting."

"By the way, I like how your car looks like a ladybug."

"Really? Thanks. My best friend suggested it years ago. Might as well when you have an ancient bug that someone decided needed to be red, right?"

"Right. Anyway, thanks for the ride. I appreciate it."

"Any time. Is this your house?"

"No, I live a few blocks away. Someone has a thing about not discovering our true identities." He winked and opened the door for himself. "Are you sliding back over?"

"Yeah, I am. Have a good night. Be safe."

"You too." He waved and shut the door.

Ladybug locked her doors and waited until he turned down a different street to drive off.

* * *

Marinette was still shaken from the almost accident when she and Alya went out for lunch.

"Mari, hello?" Alya waved her hand in front of Mari's face.

"I'm sorry, Alya. I must be tired or something."

"The only other time I saw you like this is when that taxi almost ran you over. _Oh la vache,_ did something happen to Nellie?"

"No, my car's fine. I was driving last night and some moron without their lights on cut me off. It just threw me for a loop."

"Why were you out driving?"

"Couldn't sleep." _Well, not after I got home, anyway. Close enough._

"That's rough, Mari. I'm glad you're otherwise unharmed." Her phone vibrated on the table. "Woah, sorry. Message from Tumblr." She read it over, a wrinkle forming on her brow. "Mari, I took pictures of the newest Ladybomb this morning, right?"

"Yes. You sent them to me. Why?"

"Look at this." Alya handed her phone to Marinette and waited for her reaction.

"Holy crap. He…They just did this one last night, didn't they?" Mari handed the phone back and shook her head.

"Oh yeah. Chat Noir even sent me a message so I could get pictures first thing this morning."

"It's been a thing since last night, and Papillion already destroyed it. I don't get it. Why?"

"I have no idea, but it's sickening. It's art, it's supposed to be enjoyed! Not for someone to destroy so the powers that be are forced to take it down and make it look pristine again."

"Do you think that's why Papillion is doing it? So the good graffiti get taken down for nobody to enjoy?"

"It's entirely possible. It's stupid, if you ask me. The only good thing about it is that I've gotten like two thousand followers, and it's driving the notes on the posts up like crazy. Everybody's speculating about what the two are going to do next and how they'll respond, plus they want to show their support. There's a fair amount of people who don't like it, but they're definitely in the minority."

"I hope so. This is super disheartening." Marinette's phone meowed, and she moved to silence it. _Not now, Chat. I already saw it. I don't want to think about it._

"I thought you finished all your projects with that coworker."

"No, we have a few more to do. I'll change it back whenever we're done with them all. Besides, it can wait. I'm at lunch." She smiled and popped a cracker into her mouth.

"Hey, Alya didn't say you guys were going out!" Nino stood at the end of the table and gave a fake pout.

"Sorry, babe. I thought you had work."

Nino leaned over and kissed Alya briefly before pulling up a chair next to her. "What did I miss?"

"Papillion strikes again." Alya held her phone so he could catch a glance.

"Damn. Didn't you just tell me this morning that you were getting pics?"

"Yeah. Crazy, right?"

"I just don't understand! They work so hard to make these beautiful things for the city, and all that happens to them is that some jackass comes along and destroys it for no good reason. It's not fair, it's not right, and it's damn irritating!" Marinette blushed when she saw Nino's and Alya's faces. "Shoot, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Don't worry about it. I think you're still shaken up over the accident."

"Accident? No, don't tell me something happened to Nellie!"

Mari shook her head. "No, Nino, nothing happened to the car. Nothing. I _almost_ got hit by someone last night, that's all."

"And you were okay to do stuff this morning?"

"Ugh, probably not, but I'm a big girl with real responsibilities. Besides, I've already called in sick this month."

Alya checked her phone. "I gotta go. I'm gonna be late." She kissed Nino on the cheek. "See you guys."

"I should probably head out, too, Mari. You need anything?"

"I'll be okay. Thanks, Nino." She got up and hugged him. "I hope I'll see you soon."

"You too."

* * *

"Come on, Ladybug. I don't wanna be alone."

"I'm sorry, Chat. I have things to do tonight." She'd gone back to work after her thing with Alya and Nino, but that was the day before, and new things needed done.

"Be that way."

"Chat, I have a real job, and real things to do for that real job. I'll come with you next time, I promise."

"I'm gonna hold you to that, you know. I'll see you sometime. I should get going if I want to be done before midnight. Bye."

"Bye." Marinette felt bad about lying to Chat, but she really was planning to see what he was working on, just not as Ladybug. Thankfully, he was within walking distance, and she waited until she saw him go by to talk to him.

"Um, hi, are you, like, Chat Noir?" She raised the pitch of her voice and prayed that he didn't recognize her.

The man spun around, but his face wasn't painted. "Marinette?"

"Adrien?!"

* * *

 _A/N: I told myself I was going to leave this on a cliffhanger, so I did. Sorry, not sorry. Have fun sitting on that! Also, thank you SO MUCH for all the nice reviews; they really make my day, and they keep me going. I go back and reread them all the time. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please keep reviewing! -wwot_


	6. The Ladybug Car and the Hamster

Adrien sucked in a breath. Why in the hell did Marinette, of all people, think he was Chat Noir? She wasn't wrong, to be fair, but he'd been so careful. _So_ careful. He should've put the stupid face paint on even though Ladybug wasn't going to show…

"Adrien, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were Chat. I mean, not that that would be a bad thing, that would actually probably make my life a lot easier overall, but still. You. Chat Noir. Ha. Hahaha. How silly of me. How would I know what Chat Noir looked like? You just looked how I'd pictured Chat Noir, yeah, that's all. Wearing all black, carrying a can of paint. But that's a thermos, isn't it? Oh, hell…"

"It's no big deal. I get asked that a lot." _Well, not a lot, but it's not the first time._

"So, anyway, what, uh, what brings you here?"

 _Think of something. Come on, Adrien. Excuse. Good excuse._ "Just walking. Wanted to go for a walk. Exercise, fresh air. Good for your health. Being healthy." _Smooth, Agreste._

"Fresh air, yep, that's what I'm doing out here, too."

"Awesome." He shoved his free hand into his pocket, holding the "thermos" out of sight. "So."

"Um. Yeah. You hungry? You know, from all the fresh air."

"Yes, the fresh air has made me starving. I'm starved!"

"I know a little place not too far from here. It has a little of everything."

"That sounds awesome. Let me get my car so I'm not too far from it. Actually, come with me. Directions would be great." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, smiling at her surprise when she saw his vehicle.

"It's old! Why do you have an old car?"

"I wanted an old one. Keeps me humble."

"And your random acts of charity don't?"

He laughed. "Sometimes. You'll have to crawl in through a different door; that one doesn't work." He held open the driver's door to make a point.

"My car might be old, but at least the door works."

"What do you have?"

"An old beetle. Alya made me paint it like a ladybug because it was red."

The coincidences were too similar for Adrien _not_ to notice. Not only did this girl crochet and mistake him for Chat Noir, but now she had the same car as Ladybug. Literally. "That's too funny."

"I think you'd like Alya. Nino, too. They're fun people to be around."

"They sound like it. Maybe we should all hang out sometime." He _had_ to know if she was Ladybug. There was only one more detail he could think of to confirm his thoughts, but he couldn't text while he was driving. Not with a passenger, anyway.

"That's what Nino said! I don't think he likes being the only man around sometimes. He usually doesn't care, to be fair, but I think it's boring to him now and then. Oh, it's up here on the left."

Adrien parked and let Marinette out, sending the text as quickly as he could. _'Hey LB, what's your hamster's name?'_

Mari's phone meowed after he sent the message. Oh, he was digging himself a hole he'd never be able to get himself out of.

"Sorry, work friend." Marinette responded, and he could see that she put the phone on silent when she was done.

"No problem." His own phone vibrated in his pocket, and he was dying to look at it. "What do you usually get here?"

"Everything. Hey, do you want me to text Nino and Alya and see if they're available?"

"That would be great."

"Awesome. I'll do that, and then we can go over the menu." She pulled her phone out, and he looked at his as soon as she was in the middle of her message.

' _Tikki, why? I thought you knew that?'_

She was most definitely going to kill him. Not right now, but sometime. Whenever he told her that he knew, for sure. He could hopefully put off doing that until the end of time or so.

"They said they'd be here in about twenty minutes. Anyway, what kind of stuff do you like?"

"Just about anything."

"Something hot, something cold? Spicy? Bland? Colorful? Monochrome?"

"Something with a split-complimentary color scheme sounds great." He rolled his eyes and smiled at her.

"Ugh, painters. Think they know everything about colors."

"Hey, knitters aren't much better." _I'm going to regret that. Adrien Freaking Re-greste. Ha, I'll have to remember that one._

"I'm guessing you found my yarn stash when you were over. I crochet, I don't knit, for your information. Knitting is hard and requires a lot more counting. Trust me, I've tried it."

Just how many times had Ladybug given him that exact spiel? If he had to guess, somewhere between umpteen and a gazillion. "I believe you. Anyway, what's good?"

Marinette gave him the rundown on the menu while they waited for Alya and Nino.

"Is that dress new? It's super cute!"

Marinette turned and ran to hug her friend. "Yes, it is. They had some leftover fabric that they were just going to get rid of, and I couldn't bear to let that happen."

"Is there anything you don't do?"

"Not usually. Anyway, this is Adrien. Adrien, this is Alya and Nino."

Adrien shook hands with them and waited for everyone else to order before he did and followed them to the table. They did the habitual small talk for a while before Alya moved them onto the more important conversations.

"So, Adrien, what made you bring soup to Mari?"

"She was sick."

"He called it his 'charitable act for the week,' like, how sweet is that?"

Nino and Alya glanced at each other silently. Nino spoke first. "So, you're a model."

"Way to be, babe. He's never heard that one before."

Adrien laughed. "It's not a big deal. I've heard it all before. Mari told me right away that I followed her on Tumblr. Oh, and Alya's blog, too."

Marinette hid her face in her hands. "I was hoping you wouldn't mention that."

"You said you embarrassed yourself, but you didn't tell me how bad it was!"

"Oh, and then she said she'd date me if my other girl wouldn't."

"Dude, she had the _biggest_ crush on you when we were in high school. Notebooks, posters, you name it, she probably had it."

"Nino!"

"That's nothing compared to how she knew every detail about your life and could recite it on demand."

"Alya!" Marinette lifted her head, and now it was easy for Adrien to see that she was Ladybug from the shade her face had turned. "This isn't the Embarrass Marinette Hour!"

"Oh, so I shouldn't tell them about how you fell asleep in your soup when I came over?"

"You're making me regret this." Marinette pushed her hair out of your forehead.

"You were the one who invited them. It could've been a nice dinner with just the two of us, but no, you decided to invite the two people who know you best in the whole world. Of course they're going to embarrass you, Maribug."

Alya and Nino shot each other another look at the nickname.

"Oh, whatever. Just know that I have serious dirt on you two." She pointed at the couple on the other side of the table. "Or do you not know how to turn your phones off in the middle of the night?"

"Nino, I've been thinking, and I think we need to be nicer to Marinette."

"You're right, babe. I think we should tone it down a little bit."

She smiled smugly. "That's what I thought." She popped the cherry into her mouth and pulled it off the stem with her teeth.

Adrien couldn't take his eyes off of her. She resembled Ladybug so closely with that look, and it was mesmerizing.

Marinette didn't notice, but Nino and Alya did. They both knew that look well.

"As long as we're talking about embarrassing things, I should probably confess something so nobody's left out."

"Oh, do share. Wait, is this something you should've mentioned in the interview we did?"

"I've never said this in an interview. _Ever_."

The other three at the table leaned in. "Well, spill."

"When I was seven, I had a huge crush on Celine Dion."

"No!"

"So did Nino!"

"Alya, shut up. _You_ had a crush on that American guy, Brad Pitt."

"Yeah, and you had a crush on Kathleen Turner."

"Who?" Marinette couldn't recall ever hearing the name before.

"Chandler's dad! From Friends?" Alya smirked while Nino hid his face. "See? I can play the American card just as well as you."

"If we're playing that game, Betty White."

"Wait, seriously?" Marinette burst out laughing. "Adrien, really? Betty White! Not that she's not amazing, she's totally amazing, but I never pegged you for a Betty White guy."

"What? She was good in Golden Girls. And significantly younger."

"Marinette's American crush is Bob Barker."

"Alya, I'd be very careful what you start saying about Nino and me. We have enough dirt on you to bury you, and I mean _bury_ you." She narrowed her eyes.

Adrien was confused. "Who's Bob Barker?"

"The guy from The Price Is Right! You know, the old one. I just…thought he did his job well…"

"Does anybody else find it odd that we know a little too much about this?" Alya took a sip of her smoothie.

"I can't help it if I'm knowledgeable." Nino stretched, feigning arrogance.

"Nino, you can't even spell that word." Alya rolled her eyes.

"Like you can do a better job."

"I'm a reporter, Nino. I _have_ to do a better job."

"Wait, what do you do, Nino?" Adrien set his cup aside.

"Mostly odd stuff. I walk dogs, I DJ at this pretty sweet place. I do weddings now and then. Sometimes I'm a delivery guy."

Alya's turn to be arrogant had arrived. "It's a wonder you have any sort of steady income. But that's why he has me."

Marinette yawned. She hadn't realized how late it was.

Alya dropped her arrogant act. "Oh, Mari, early day today?"

"I guess. I didn't think I was this tired." She fought back another yawn. "I guess I should get going or something." She unstuck her legs from the chair and pushed it in while she stretched.

Alya stood up to hug her. "Thanks for inviting us. It's been fun."

Marinette leaned over to hug Nino. "Yeah, thanks. It's been a pleasure."

"Thank Adrien, he's the one who said it was okay."

"Thanks, man."

"Hey, any time. Mari was right about me liking you guys."

"I'll see you guys!" Mari started to walk off, but Adrien caught her by the wrist. "Do you want a ride home?"

Alya and Nino looked at each other. Could this model kid _be_ any more obvious about liking her?

"That would be nice. Thank you. Nino, Alya, we should do this more often. It's been too long."

"For sure! See you two!"

Nino waited until they were out of earshot to talk to Alya. "Come on, tell me he doesn't have a thing for her."

"Oh, he does. He's too chicken to admit it, but he totally does. Even if he has a thing for another girl, he definitely has one for our 'Maribug.'"

Meanwhile, Marinette was clambering into Adrien's passenger seat from the back. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. I already know where you live, so it's not a big deal."

"And yet I don't know where you live."

"We can go there if you want."

Marinette pressed her lips together. "Will you expect anything out of me if we do?"

"No. Never."

"Then okay. To your place it is."

Adrien started his car and headed in his direction of home.

Marinette turned on the radio so it wasn't silent, humming along with most of the songs.

Adrien spoke over a commercial. "You're not allergic to cats, are you?"

"No. You mentioned your cat before. What's his name?"

"Plagg."

"What kind of name is that?"

"It's one you make up to spite the person who bought you the cat. Namely, my father."

"I idolized your father when I was little."

"What made you stop?"

Marinette thought for a moment, stifling a yawn in the process. "He quit being innovative. The one thing I always loved about your father's designs was that it was new, it was fresh, it was different…Now it's kind of old hat. Not super old, just old enough to be old and not cool. Does that make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense. Lots of people at our company feel the same way, if that's any consolation."

"Why did it quit being good?"

Adrien set his jaw. "My mother disappeared."

"Oh, that makes sense. I guess I never put the two together."

"Most people don't. They have all the clues, but nobody can put it together." He didn't sound like he was talking only about his father's current lack of design prowess.

Marinette could read between the lines. "Do you feel responsible for it?"

"I was literally the last person to see her alive. I think anything but 'Yes' is a wrong answer." He turned the volume up on the song. That part of the conversation was clearly over.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter was fun to write! I hope you enjoyed it! And seriously, you people give the BEST reviews! They make writing so worth it :) And yes, it's a day early, but I'm doubting that I'll have time tomorrow to post it. Thanks a bunch! -wwot_


	7. The Argument

Adrien drove up to his place in relative silence.

Marinette fidgeted beside him, clearly uncomfortable. Sure, she'd mistaken him for Chat Noir, and _that_ had been incredibly awkward, but this was too much to bear. She knew she'd crossed a line, but that didn't help her feel less guilty. Even though Adrien bore more than a passing resemblance to Chat, she'd never thought about it before. What a weird coincidence. But coincidences didn't make up for asking personal questions that were better left unanswered.

He parked and held the door open for her to climb out, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry. I should've known better than to ask that."

He glanced at her and found worry on her face. "It's fine. I get it. Normal question to ask and all that."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

"So, give me a tour?"

"Sure." Adrien led her around, and they ended up chatting on the couch. They grew silent after a while, so he turned on some music.

"Adrien?"

"Hm?"

"Do you…do you wanna dance with me?"

"That sounds lovely." He smiled and offered her a hand. They stood in the middle of the room together, enjoying the moment.

She laid her head on his chest, swaying to the music. He held both of her hands and nestled his cheek on her hair. Her scent was positively intoxicating.

She didn't express her thoughts, but his patience to hide his ended when the song did.

"Marinette?" He kept his voice low.

"Hm?"

"Look at me, please."

She shifted and stared at him, searching for an answer. Her eyes had never been so blue.

"I want to kiss you."

"Oh." _Way to go, Marinette. That's the exact response you should be having._

"May I?"

She nodded. Her heart was about to beat right out of her chest.

He dropped her hands and softly cupped her face, praying that his shaky hands would calm themselves. He kissed her softly at first, slow and gentle. Her hands found his waist to steady herself, and he pushed the kiss a little further. Green apple flavored chapstick suited her perfectly, but there wasn't time to think about how quickly it would be gone.

Marinette pulled on his shirt so she could feel his chest on hers even if it meant being on her tiptoes. His hands moved to her hair, pulling the loose bun out to tangle them there.

If the taste of her lips was divine, her tongue was iniquitous. Adrien dropped his hands to her hips, searching for any exposed skin. He cursed that she was wearing a dress.

She slid her hands up into his hair, pulling herself closer.

He broke away for a moment and smirked at the displeased sound she gave. "Couch?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Adrien stooped to pick Marinette up, glad that she could get her small legs mostly around him. He grazed his lips along her jaw and backed carefully until his calves hit the couch. He sat almost immediately, adjusting her in his lap as he went. He moved back to her lips and held her knees.

Marinette lightly swatted his hand so he'd move it and shifted so she sat on her shins—but still mostly in his lap. She guided his hand back to her leg, gasping when he sucked on her lip and squeezed her thigh.

He teased just under where the hem of her dress sat, vaguely aware that she was saying his name. Adrien forced himself to focus on her tone and became thankful when he processed that it wasn't alarmed. He slid his hands a little higher on her legs while his lips slipped down her neck. He sucked lightly on her collarbone, enjoying her little gasps as he raked his fingers down her thighs.

She relaxed into his lap and blushed when he hissed but pulled her closer. Bracing herself against the back of his couch, she reached for the hem of his shirt and tugged on it. He immediately peeled away from her and slid it off, kissing her again without even bothering to check on the mark he'd made.

She held onto his shoulders, lightly digging her fingers along his shoulder blades. He tilted his head aside when she dropped kisses onto his jaw. Worry crossed his brain when she nibbled on his ear; surely he was holding her legs tight enough to bruise them. As soon as she left his ear, he pressed his arm across her back and flipped them so she was laying down. Adrien didn't notice when she stiffened, peppering kisses closer to her chest.

"Adrien?"

He looked up at her, and his stomach dropped. "Mari, I'm sorry." He pushed himself off of her and offered a hand to help her up, but she sat up by herself. "I'm sorry, Marinette."

"It's fine. It's fine. I didn't tell you to stop."

"I still should've asked. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "I think I should go home."

"I can take you."

"No. I'll call a cab."

"Can I at least call my driver for you?"

Marinette turned her head toward him. "You have a driver on call, and yet you drive this dinky little car with a broken door? What the hell for?"

Adrien shrugged a little. "I prefer it that way. Gives me a little more freedom. Anyway, can I call him for you?" He stood up to get his phone.

"If it'll make you happy, fine."

"I don't have to, but it would be cheaper."

"Why do you even care?"

He stopped. "What?"

"Why do you even care, Adrien Agreste? You've gone on for weeks about this girl you're _so_ interested in, and yet you don't even stop and consider her tonight. 'Let me take you home.' 'Come over to my place.' 'Let me make out with you _on my couch_.' You're not even wearing a damn shirt, Adrien. I don't wanna think about what color _this_ is—" she gestured to her neck and continued, "—and I'm-I'm confused. Do you think I'm easy? Available when Miss First Fiddle isn't? What were you gonna do if I spent the night, huh? Just call your driver in the morning and say, 'Hey, I have a girl here with me. I know I have important modeling things to go do, but she needs a ride home because she was an easy lay.'" Marinette scoffed and hugged herself. "Some person you are. I should've just gone home." She spied her hair tie on the floor and reached for it, pulling her hair back into another loose bun. "I'm just…baffled. You go on and on and _on_ about her, but you show so much interest in me…I don't get it, Adrien. I don't get it." She stood up and retrieved her jacket. "I'll see you sometime, Adrien. I hope she's worth it." She didn't give him a chance to say anything as she walked out the door and shut it behind her.

Adrien had nothing to say. He flopped over on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair, ashamed. She was right. Of course, _both_ of the women he was interested in were Marinette, and she _was_ worth it, but she didn't know that. She had no way of knowing that. Having his words about her being the second fiddle thrown in his face stung, too; but she also had no way of knowing that she threw them at the very person who said them to her.

"Way to go, Agreste. Way to go." A happy little ding sounded on his phone, and he looked at the message. It was from Marinette—Ladybug—Marinette, but Ladybug's number.

' _can I call you? rough night'_

Laughter overcame him. She was upset about what he did, so she came running to him to try and fix it. It was all so stupid. He called her, if only to hear her voice.

"Hello?" She sniffled.

"What's up, bug?"

"Just that asshole who keeps ruining my life. Okay, not my life, but he's not making it easy." Ladybug was clearly trying not to cry.

"Tell me what happened."

"Well, first I ran into him and thought he was you. Same hair, I got confused. Anyway, point is, it wasn't you, we went out to dinner with my friends, it's all fun and games, right? Right? Wrong. He offered to drive me home—which was actually really sweet—but then I made a joke about not knowing where he lives, so we went to his place instead. We hung around and talked for a while, then we started dancing…and then we started kissing. I was in his lap, Chat. Not just sideways, either. Anyway, I freaked out a little, started yelling at him for stringing me along, and he didn't even say anything! He just sat there and took it! I feel awful, Chat. I feel like I made him feel bad—I mean, he _should_ feel bad, but that's not the point—and I feel bad. It sucks. It all sucks. Sorry for bothering you."

"No, it's fine. I can understand why you're upset."

"How was your night?"

"…Great! Yeah, great. Sat around, did a whole lot of nothing. Awesome."

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm gonna let you go. I need to call a cab. I'm walking as it is."

"Be safe. Call me if you need me to get you."

"I will. Thanks. Love you."

"I-I love you, too. Bye."

 _He_ was the asshole stringing her along. She said she loved him—him, her literal partner in crime, not the man flirting with her when he was interested in someone else. That someone else who was also her. What a mess he'd made. What a hole he'd dug himself.

Plagg jumped onto his stomach and kneaded until he got comfortable.

"Hey, buddy." Adrien laid both hands on his back and pet him softly, smiling when Plagg started purring. "Glad I can at least make you happy." They sat there for a while, and Adrien was almost asleep when he heard his phone go off again. He checked it, and it was a message from Ladybug saying she got home safe. Marinette sent Adrien one a few minutes later, which was comforting despite being redundant.

He turned his phone off and fell asleep to Plagg's purrs.

* * *

Marinette sat her empty coffee cup down loudly and continued her angry typing. There wasn't enough caffeine in the universe to help her feel better. She'd hardly slept after she got home, and Alya pressing her for details wasn't any sort of helpful. At least she wouldn't have to kill Adrien herself; Alya was practically begging to go do it for her.

Her boss stopped by her desk when she saw that something upsetting Marinette. "What's the trouble, Marinette?"

"Men are stupid. Their stupid hair, their stupid faces, and their stupid ways of thinking. Stupid. All of it."

Carine shook her head. "I get it, Marinette. Trust me. But hey, I had a question for you. How would you feel about going to London for a month?"

Marinette turned her chair around. "A whole month? What for?"

"We want to send you to different London-based fashion houses and see how it differs from our Parisian ways of thinking. Tony was going to, but his wife just had their baby."

"Oh, congrats to them. Uh, I'd have to get someone to babysit my hamster, but sure. When would I leave?"

"In a week. We have to buy the tickets today. You in?"

Marinette took a deep breath to think about it. This would be the _perfect_ opportunity to clear her head of Adrien Freaking Agreste; a month spent dealing with his stupidity would best be countered by a month abroad. "I'm in. Send me the itinerary. Is it okay if I head home early and start packing?"

"Go right ahead. We'll email everything to you."

Marinette jumped up and hugged Carine. "You're the best. I'll see you tomorrow." She grabbed her purse and ran out. She called Chat Noir when she was situated in her car.

"What's the news, bug?"

"I need you to do me a huge favor. Work wants me to leave for a month, and I need someone to babysit my hamster. Can you do it? Is that too much to ask?"

"If you give me specific instructions, I can do it."

"Great! I'll see you at seven on Saturday. Thanks a bunch, Chat."

* * *

 _A/N: So, Marinette's escaping her feelings. This always turns out well. Also, surprise chapter! Your reviews have been so nice that I thought I'd give you a bonus at the end of the month. I hope you liked it! Until Wednesday! -wwot_


	8. The Zero Shenanigans Policy

Ladybug drove up to their arranged meeting spot right on time. "Chat! Thank you so much for taking care of Tikki." She leaned against her car with the cage in her arms.

"It's no problem. I really don't mind."

"Still. I have food in the backseat, and that should be enough to last the month. If it's not, let me know, and I'll pay you back for it."

Chat rolled his eyes. "You don't have to do that. I'm certain I can afford it."

"Whatever. It's the principle of the matter. Anyway, instructions are typed up and taped to the food containers, I have some of her favorite stuff, and I can bring more tomorrow if you think she's not adjusting well."

"That's probably a good idea."

"Okay. Here." She handed him the cage and got Tikki out to say goodbye. "I'll miss you, little bug. I sure will." Ladybug kissed Tikki on the head and put her back in the cage. "Okay, put her in your car before I start crying." She got the bag of food out and handed it to Chat. "I really do appreciate it."

"And it really isn't any trouble."

She stepped forward and hugged him. "You're the best."

"Thanks." If only she knew.

"I mean it, Chat. I can always count on you."

"Speaking of, what are we going to do about the projects when you're away?"

"I've been too busy packing and bitching about that _moron_ to even think of crocheting, but I've packed some yarn and hooks, so that should keep me busy in my downtime. I'll have at least one thing done by the time I get back, and we can make a grand entrance back into the scene. Provided that the Papillion guy leaves us alone." She stuck her tongue out—a gesture that was so Marinette it pained him to watch.

"Yeah, that guy. What a jerk."

"Right?" Ladybug hugged herself, losing herself a little in her thoughts.

The hickey he gave her was still visible, thought now faded to a faint pink. "We'll figure it out when you get back. We'll get back at him or something, and it'll make you feel better. Until then, have fun on your trip, and don't forget to take pictures."

"Will you video call me with Tikki?"

"Of course I will. I'll take good care of her."

"Thanks. I really need to get going; I have lots to do before I leave. Love you!" She got back in her car and waved as she drove off, leaving behind a heartbroken Chat Noir.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Marinette called Alya as soon as she was settled into her hotel a few days later. "Oh my gosh, London is beautiful already. Granted, I haven't seen _that_ much, but it's still beautiful. The hotel is beautiful, the sky is beautiful, the streets are beautiful...everything. Everything is beautiful."

"You know that people say that about Paris, right? I doubt the locals would say such a thing."

Mari leaned back in her chair. "Oh, whatever. Hey, your camera cut out."

"No, that's just Nino being a pain."

The picture came back with Nino waving and sitting himself next to Alya. "How's the London life? Free of stupid blond guys?"

"You have no idea! I've barely even seen any blonds!" She held up her water bottle. "A toast to no stupid shenanigans involving any blond guys!"

"Amen!" Alya held up a candle; it was the closest thing to a cup she could find.

"You really should watch what you say. What if you find some cute English guy and he happens to be blond? You'll never give him a chance, he could've been the love of your life, and you'll both be miserable and end up with seven cats. He'll have seven cats, you'll have seven hamsters. Regardless, true love will never be known." Nino clutched his chest and feigned crying.

"You'll get over it. Ugh, speaking of, he texted me."

"What did he say this time?"

"He's just complimenting me on the article I wrote from our interview. Oh, and asking me to talk to him. Like I'm going to." Marinette took a deep breath and put her phone down facedown. "No stupid blond guys in London. Intelligent ones are fine, but no shenanigans. Zero shenanigans."

"'Zero shenanigans' is right. I will personally come over to London and kick anybody's butt who starts shenanigans with you."

"Thanks, Alya. Hey, I'm gonna check on Tikki. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye, you two!"

"Bye!"

"See you!"

Marinette hung up while they were waving and spun around in the chair. She should probably check with Chat before calling him…well, she'd want him to check with her if she were sitting his cat. Were they even close enough for her to babysit his cat? Well, she had him taking care of her hamster, so it probably worked the other way, too. She certainly hoped that Chat trusted her with his cat after all this time.

 _What was his name? I should figure that out if I want to take care of him. Pierre? Plato? Plagg? Plagg! That's right. Plagg. Adrien's cat's name is Plagg, too. Oh._

"Son of a bitch."

She didn't hesitate dialing his Adrien Freaking Agreste number; that better matched her mood. _So much for my zero shenanigan policy._

"Marinette, thank goodness—"

"Chat Noir, you absolute asshole. You're sitting my hamster, and you didn't even tell me?!"

"In the effort of fairness, you told Chat Noir, not Adrien."

"Don't even give me that crap. _You knew_ , and you didn't tell me! Dammit. I can't believe Tikki was the thing that caused it. Sneaky little bug."

"Uh, she actually wasn't."

"Excuse me?"

"Your car gave you away."

Marinette cussed under her breath. "Alya's gonna get it. I'm both of your stupid fiddles, right?"

"Y-yes. You're both of my fiddles."

"Ugh. This just figures. You're too infatuated with me to like me. It's all so stupid. I've been in London for less than six hours, and my zero shenanigan policy's already gone out the window." She rubbed her forehead. "Just take care of my stupid hamster. I'll get her when I get back, and you won't have to deal with me again if you don't want to."

"What if I do?"

"Adrien, I honestly don't know. I have no idea. I'll figure it out later, but I'm in London for now. I'll crochet something like I said I would, and you can do that with me if you'd like, but I'm clueless beyond that."

"I'm sorry, LB."

"You've been saying that a lot lately."

"I've been meaning it a lot lately." His voice wavered, but Marinette wasn't about to let that slow her down, standing as though to stand her ground.

"You betrayed my trust in the first place. Any girl would've been excited to kiss Adrien Freaking Agreste—I was, like a total idiot, but sometimes I wish I used my head more. It doesn't matter that you knew when you kissed me because you should've told me at that point. 'By the way, I figured out your secret identity, and it turns out that I like both sides of you.' How hard was that?"

"Marinette, calm the hell down. You and I both know you wouldn't have responded any better no matter when or what I told you, so don't go putting the blame all on me. I kissed you because it was right then that I realized all I wanted out of life was to have a woman in my arms—namely, you—and it didn't matter at that point whether you were masquerading as Ladybug or not."

"But I—"

"This isn't all about you! I've cried myself to sleep most of the past week because I was convinced that I'd lost you as Adrien, and nothing hurt quite so much as that! I was so happy when I saw you calling, but it was only to yell at me and belittle me, so shut up! Just shut up! I never thought you were like that, but I was wrong, too. Yes, I should've told you right away, but that doesn't give you the right to keep going on about what I've done wrong."

Marinette sank to the floor, silent.

"Hello?"

"You just told me to shut up. Why should I say anything?" She wiped tears from her chin.

"Marinette…" She could picture him turning around and pushing his fingers through his hair. "I still love you, Mari, but we both need to take a step back. This is too much for either of us."

"Why do you think I agreed to go to London? I was trying to clear my head from you."

"My point is that it's okay if we step back and look at things objectively. I'll take care of Tikki; I said I would, so I will. She's been doing fine so far, by the way. She gets along with Plagg really well."

"Glad to hear it." Marinette hoped she didn't sound _that_ glad.

"I'll quit bothering you unless it's about her, and we can go from there when you get back next month."

"Adrien?"

"Yes, Marinette?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you so much."

"I'm sorry for yelling back. Have a safe trip. I have a shoot in a few minutes, so I need to go."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Bye now." Adrien hung up, and Marinette dropped her phone to the floor, ignoring where it landed.

"Oh, what am I going to do now?"

* * *

Marinette awoke tangled in yarn. Crocheting herself to sleep was rarely a good idea, but she'd done it anyway. She untangled part of it and looked at what she'd finished the night before. Her stitches were uneven, which wasn't surprising. Angry crocheting often did that to her work. She ripped the last few stitches out and redid them, carefully winding the yarn back onto the skein when she finished.

She tucked the project back into her suitcase and jumped when her phone meowed. "What do you want, Adrien?" She opened the message and saw a picture of Tikki curled up with Plagg, both sleeping contentedly. The caption read _'Snuggle bugs'_ with a little heart next to it. Mari smiled and sent a quick thanks. Chat Noir _was_ the right person to look after her hamster, even if he also happened to be Adrien.

 _So, what's on the agenda today?_ Marinette tried to make sense of her schedule. "Surely they would've made this easier for me to understand, but no, we don't care about the girl we're sending to London. The woman, the _woman_ we're sending to London." She shuffled through her papers, finally finding the right one. Her only appointments were to sightsee—and buy souvenirs. There was no way she couldn't handle this today.

* * *

"Hey, babe, look at this message."

Nino grunted in the morning light and grabbed Alya's phone from her. "What about it?"

"What about it? Chat Noir is asking me for help with ladies. You know what that means?"

"What, babe?"

"He and Ladybug are totally a thing! Or will be soon. Oh, this'll be great!"

* * *

 _A/N: A little bit of a shorter chapter. I tried so hard to make my word count goal with it, but the pacing just wouldn't let me. Oh well. I really did try! I hope you enjoyed it! Like, gosh, Marinette; get a clue. Get a clue. And thank you for all the nice reviews! I mean it when I say that it really makes my day. I reread them all the time. But seriously, thank you. It means so much to me. -wwot_


	9. The English Stranger

Marinette collapsed into her hotel bed. _What a long ass freaking day. Man, I've been swearing more. I should probably stop._

Her phone started buzzing and she groaned, not even bothering to see who it was when she answered. "Yeah?"

"It's your favorite Alya! How's your week been?"

"Long! It's Tuesday, and I'm exhausted. I can't believe it's only been a week."

"Well, it has. I can't wait to hear about all your English adventures, but I have news. You'll never guess what happened."

"I probably won't."

"Chat Noir sent me a message. He's having lady issues—read: _Ladybug_ issues! I can't believe he's coming to me for advice, either. We're supposed to have a late night coffee run later."

"That jackass." _So much for not swearing._

"Huh?"

"Alya, are you sitting down?"

"Gimme a sec. Okay, what?"

"I need you to swear to me that you won't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you. Nino's okay, but beyond that, nobody. Not my parents, not your work cohorts, not a soul. Got it?"

"I swear, I swear. Pinky swear."

"Chat Noir is asking you for advice about me. I'm Ladybug."

The line was silent for a long second.

"Excuse me?"

Marinette rolled onto her back.

"I'm Ladybug, Alya. Have you never noticed I'm always working on a project that's literally the same color scheme as what shows up on the streets of Paris?"

"No way."

"I promise I'm not lying to you."

"Hold on, Nino just walked in. Hey, Nino! Marinette's the mysterious Ladybug!"

Keys clinked on a counter. "Yeah, I knew that months ago. What took you so long? Like, hello. Marinette's too obvious about everything."

"Wait, how did _you_ figure it out? Hi, by the way. London's great. I got you a ridiculously overpriced snow globe. Alya, switch it to a video call." Mari turned her camera on and held it above her.

The screen flashed from blackness and showed Alya at their counter with Nino standing behind her. "Mari, you're always jumpy when Alya talks about Ladybug. She was too focused to notice. Don't remember exactly what you said, but it fit." Nino shrugged and walked off, calling over his shoulder. "It just made sense."

"That's fair. But yeah, Chat Noir's asking for advice about me. That's literally what's going on right now. I told you my zero shenanigans policy was _all_ the way out the window last week, and at this point it's not even in the same galaxy." Marinette rolled onto her side, adjusting the camera accordingly.

"I don't know why you even called Adrien. Why waste your time?" Alya pushed her glasses up.

"I felt bad, Alya. Guilt does things to a woman."

"Babe, didn't you want to shower before you met up with Chat Noir?"

"Shoot! Thanks, Nino! Mari, I have to go. I'll text you tomorrow."

" _After_ the sun rises, please."

"I make no promises. Text me how your day went, alright?"

"I will. Have fun with my partner."

"Woah, hold on, does he know?"

"Yes, Chat knows. Chat's taking care of Tikki. These are two separate events, by the way."

"Chat Noir found out before I did? Marinette! Why am I the last to know?"

"Alya! Shower!"

"Fine, Nino! Gotta go. See you, Mari."

"Bye, Alya."

* * *

Marinette barely stopped herself from falling out of bed when her phone rang again. "Alya, I told you to _text_ me _after_ the sun came up. You woke me up!"

" _You_ didn't tell me that Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste!"

"It's not my business to tell!" Mari rubbed her eyes and reached to turn off the light she'd left on.

"Adrien's babysitting your hamster, Marinette!"

"I know that! I've been over that a million times in my head. That's the _only_ reason I'm talking to him at all right now."

"Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought about it that way." Alya clicked her fingers on the countertop.

"Babe, what are you doing up? You have work tomorrow."

"You're still up, too. Watching Netflix, at that."

"I don't have a real job, unlike you."

"If you guys wanna talk to each other, leave me out of it. I have an extremely important house tomorrow we're hoping will partner with us in the future, and I can't afford to screw up the first impression. Yes, Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir. Yes, he's taking care of my hamster. Yes, I knew about it, but only after I got to London. Yes, I left Tikki with a guy whose name I didn't even know. Yes, Adrien knows I'm Ladybug. No, I didn't tell him myself. Yes, he knew when he kissed me; no, I did not. No, I don't think I know nearly enough English for this. Yes, I'm going to fly back home and strangle you both if you don't _let me sleep._ "

"Sorry, Mari. Glad your stuff went well yesterday."

"Yeah, thanks. Good _night_ , Alya. Wish Nino the same." Marinette hung up before Alya could say anything else and rolled over as her phone meowed.

"What do you want, Chat? I have a super important thing to do tomorrow."

"I talked to Alya about my side of everything."

" _Oh my gosh!_ Can't a woman get some sleep around here?"

"Huh?"

"Alya called and told me all about it already. I'm super tired, I have a _very_ important house to go to tomorrow, and everybody in the whole of Europe knows about everything concerning the two of us either directly or otherwise."

"I'm sorry."

"You can either hang up now or be okay with me falling asleep on you."

"Falling asleep it is. I didn't tell her anything about you."

"I took care of that already. Before you saw her."

"I thought you were falling asleep."

"I thought I was going to _get_ some sleep."

"Sorry. Anyway, I told her about what happened in so many words and then she figured out who I was. Probably because I told her. And then I started talking about you, minus being the same person, and then she put everything else together. She's quick."

"She had no idea it was me. Nino knew. Oh, he knows about you. Alya's not exactly quiet with people she knows, but we're a trustworthy bunch."

"Minus me, of course."

"Don't worry, I wasn't including you." Her tone was light despite a yawn.

"You should get some sleep."

"I'm trying, but someone keeps talking to me."

A meow sounded in her ear. "Plagg says hi. So does Tikki."

"Hi back." Another yawn.

"You really should go to sleep, Marinette. We can talk about this later. I'm sorry for calling you."

"It's okay. I get it. Love you."

Adrien felt his face blanch. It was late, she was tired; surely she didn't mean that. "Mari?"

"Hm?"

"Do you really love me?"

"Chat, yes. Adrien, maybe."

"That's fair. I love you, too. Marinette and Ladybug."

"You mean that?" Her voice was distant.

"I'll always mean that. You need to plug your phone in."

She shuffled around. "Happy?"

"I am. Have a good rest of the night, Marinette. Let me know how your stuff goes."

The line was silent, so Adrien hung up, kissed the animals goodnight, and went to bed himself.

* * *

Marinette took copious notes and asked all the appropriate questions the next morning. Nobody would be able to tell that she was surviving on coffee and bland donuts—not until she flubbed "can't" with a word that sounded a little too similar in her accented English to begin with. Oh, this house would never work with _Tendance Inspirer_ after that. What kind of name was _Glossotype_ , anyway?

She ate most of lunch by herself; surely this was the superior option over another faux pas like the last one, _non?_

"May I sit here?"

Marinette looked up at the man who spoke to her. He'd spoken in French—broken French, but French nonetheless.

" _Bien sûr!_ Please, sit."

"Marinette, is that right?"

"Yeah. And what was your name? There's too many for me to learn easily."

He stared at her blankly, so she repeated her question slower.

"Daniel."

Marinette spoke slowly again and exaggerated her gestures. "Daniel. It's nice to meet you, Daniel. You're not so bad for a blond guy."

He switched between the languages, unsure how to get his point across in just one. "Problems with blonds? Surely I didn't do that for you."

 _Oh, please don't be stupid. Maybe Nino was right._

"Oh, no. Another guy. He's not so bad, but there's a few things to be desired."

Daniel looked strikingly like Adrien, causing Marinette to pause and ask herself if they could be related. No, Adrien had no English relatives; Canadian, sure, but none that were English.

"Maybe I can make up for what he lacks. How does dinner tonight sound?"

"That sounds nice. Where should I meet you?"

Daniel gave her an address and directions. "Seven thirty good?"

"That's perfect. I'll see you there. Don't be late!"

"Don't worry! I'll be right on time." He took her hand and kissed it.

Her stomach flopped; that was Chat Noir's move, not some English stranger's. "See you later."

"Ciao!"

* * *

Marinette crawled into bed and called Alya as soon as she could.

"Mari! How was your date?"

"It wasn't. He didn't even show up. I just stood around for an hour, looking like an idiot. Thankfully, there's nothing going on tomorrow, so I don't have to deal with it, but still. I feel like crap. Screw Daniel, screw London, screw blonds. Screw the whole lot of them."

"Damn, and I was thinking about dying my hair."

"You're the only exception I will make to that rule. The only one. Well, Nino maybe. He just can't act like a jerk if he does it."

"He won't. He has an image to uphold or something. That's the story he tells me, anyway."

"It's not a bad story, in all fairness. At least he's consistent and usually has enough money to pay the rent and the rest of the bills. And he pays extra when he can to make up for when he can't. You really lucked out with the responsible one, you know. What do I get? A guy who stood me up and another one who kissed me but didn't tell me he was picking me over me instead of the other me over me. Wait, I think I worded that wrong."

"Nah, I got it. It's not your fault he did that. You probably could've noticed—like, how many times have you guys met up to do artwork or for something else?"

"Enough that I felt like a total idiot when I didn't figure it out. It was right in front of me, Alya. I even mistook Adrien for Chat! At least I was right. I had no idea I was right, but I _was_ right."

"I'm still a little blown away because I know the actual Ladybug. It's kinda humbling or something."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. It's not like being attached to a celebrity that everybody knows by recognition. You see a couple walking around Paris with something crocheted and some spray paint, sure, might be us. But it's not like I'm Audrey Tautou where someone would come up to us, ignore you, and gush over me. That happens to you a lot, by the way. I don't know if you realize it. Adrien, too. Maybe you two should hang out when he gets over me again and see who attracts more attention."

"Are you honestly suggesting that I see Adrien after what he did to you?"

"I am. He's really trying, Alya. He's barely sent me anything except for a few pictures of Tikki and his cat. I don't think I'll ever be able to separate them, by the way. They are literally always cuddling and playing with each other. Oh, he sent me this one video, and Plagg is just sitting there while Tikki crawls all over and around him. It's precious. I'll have to show it to you."

"But you're over him."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you're talking about him as if you still like him."

"Of course I do, Alya. You don't get those strong feelings for a guy again and get over it in two weeks. I'll be fine by the time I get back home."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"Hey, I'll get over him. Just wait and see."

"Or under him."

"Alya!"

* * *

 _A/N: Happy Wednesday! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a little filler, but it's helping me get where I want to go with it. So, here it is. Also, THANK YOU for the reviews! They make me smile and I reread them all the time :) Now I'm off to do stuff for my litmag that should've been done two weeks ago... -wwot_


	10. The French Stranger

"Miss Dupain, can we get your help over here?"

"It's Dupain-Cheng, but please call me Marinette. And sure. What do you need?"

Marinette was back at _Glossotype_ despite everything in her telling her not to go. Daniel was nowhere in sight, which was just fine for her, considering she'd already gone two weeks without hearing from him.

"I need you to hold this light—no, to the left— _my left—_ and don't move. Perfect. Let's get some pictures, yes, yes, that's how we do it here. Perfection."

"I thought you had to be a foreigner to be a little out of your mind," Marinette muttered in French. Too many Anglophone ears around to understand her, or so she hoped.

One of the camera guys started laughing and answered in French. "Not in this industry, darling."

Marinette shook her head, a smile forming on her own face. "Didn't realize you spoke my language."

"We French need to stick together." He winked at her, clearly amused.

"Can you two quit flirting? We have work to do!"

Marinette resumed her position with the light until they called for a break, hoping to find the stranger who'd brightened her day.

"Marinette, yes? Dupain-Cheng if I recall."

She jumped and turned. "Yeah. August, right? Mazet?"

"That's me." He smiled and held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you. You must be the girl Daniel was bragging about standing up. Sorry he's a colossal dick."

"It's no big deal. I'm sort of getting over another one, so it's nothing I can't handle." She shook his hand and gave him a once-over. "You know, you're not too bad for a camera guy."

"You're not too bad for a lighting lady."

"It's not my normal job, but I help where I can." Marinette threw every bit of confidence she had left in her body into the conversation. "Are you in England on business or because you live here?"

"Business. Here for a webzine in Paris, _Belle Éléphant_."

"Oh, no way! I'm here for _Tendance Inspirer_!"

"You wrote the article on the Agreste kid! I knew I'd heard your name before."

"And didn't you write one on the Bourgeois girl? I went to school with her." Marinette stuck her tongue out with a grimace.

"You read that anyway? Poor woman. You must be a glutton for punishment."

"I tried to convince myself that anybody could change. I was right, for the record."

"How, did she get worse?" August laughed, recalling the interview.

"Hey, I don't speak ill of people. But in some ways, oh yeah. Totally got worse."

"Glad to know it's not just me she was bitching at. What happened, anyway?"

"It's not really my business to share. As awful as she is, at least there's a reason. But it's not my story to tell." Mari shrugged. "So, when do you go back to Paris?"

"Next Thursday. It can't come soon enough, too. I miss my rabbit."

"I miss my hamster! What's your rabbit's name?"

"Maxence, Max for short. He's a little black and white thing, loves company. One of the most docile rabbits I've ever seen, which worries me sometimes, but it's usually alright."

"He sounds cute. My hamster's name is Tikki. She reddish and soft and likes to cuddle. I also found out that she loves my friend's cat. Oh, here." Marinette grabbed her phone from her pocket and found the most recent picture Adrien had sent her. "Plagg is the cat. They're apparently buddies for life." She laughed. "How long have you had Max?"

"About two years. My brother had him for a year before that, I think."

"What's your brother's name?"

"Okay, don't laugh. Our parents don't know what being creative means."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

"Julien."

Marinette bit her cheek. "Oh dear."

"And my sister's name is June. My mom's Canadian, hence the English versions of the names."

"That's pretty funny."

"It is when you don't grow up with it. Anyway, when do _you_ go back to Paris?"

"Oh! Next Thursday, too. Maybe we're on the same flight!"

"Alright, let's get back to work, people!"

August gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'll catch you after the shoot, okay?"

Marinette smiled. "Sounds great."

* * *

"Oh, Alya, you wouldn't believe how much fun we had! It's really a wonder I haven't met him before. We like all the same places back home."

"Is he cute?"

"I'll send you a picture, and you can tell me." Marinette fumbled with her phone for a minute. "There, I sent it."

"Damn, Mari. He's crazy cute!"

Nino called from behind Alya, "I heard that!"

"Come look at him, and you'll agree with me!"

"He's cute, Nino. I promise. Oh, I'm gonna send you the picture Adrien sent me of Plagg and Tikki. He dressed them up with little party hats, and it's absolutely adorable. So precious."

"Damn! August _is_ cute!"

"See, babe? I told you he was."

"Okay, we've all established that August is cute. Oh, did I tell you that we're on the same flight home? We somehow have seats that are beside each other, too! I can barely wait, honestly. He's so funny."

"You've known the guy for how many hours?"

"What? It's not like I've confessed my undying love for him. Our love could be quite dead already for all you know. Wait a second, no, that's not what I meant."

Alya and Nino were laughing so hard that they could barely get any words out. "We're happy for you, Mari! We promise."

Nino wiped a few tears from his eyes. "Hey, you should invite him to your coming back party!"

"I'm having a party?"

"Alya, you forgot to invite Mari!"

"Dammit, I did. I would've remembered when we picked her up, though. I'm not that oblivious."

"I hate to break it to you, but you didn't notice anything about me being Ladybug until I told you. Hell, _Nino_ noticed and you didn't."

"I'm never going to live that down, but you'll never live down _Adrien Freaking Agreste_ taking care of your hamster! Haha! Can you imagine the tabloids getting ahold of that?"

"Oh, that would be so good!" Nino put his arm around Alya and faked having a microphone in his hand. "And now, breaking news for Paris' hottest model, Adrien Agreste. It appears that his summer fling this year involves a fashion reporter and her hamster. Is she permanent? The hamster seems to think so!"

Alya leaned over and slapped her knee, laughing so hard that now sound came out, which prompted Nino to continue.

"We spotted the writer leaving the model's house with her hamster, Cookie, in tow. She seemed overjoyed to be getting her hamster back, so is she happy to leave? Find out more at seven!"

"Nino, be nice. He offered to have his driver take me home, and _then_ he offered to pay for a cab when I said no."

"He'd probably pay for you to take a cab _to_ his house, too."

"Quit it, Alya. If you guys are gonna be like that, I'll stay here in London with August. Scratch that. We'll come home, get our pets, and promptly move back to London. You won't get a forwarding address, either."

"Alright! Gosh, we'll be nice. Right, Nino?"

"That's us. Nothing but nice."

"You two are exhausting. Hey, August is calling me! I'll talk to you later!"

"Send him our _undying_ love, Mari!"

"Whatever, Nino! Bye!" Marinette switched the call over to August. "Hey! How are you?"

"I'm doing alright. Anything new?"

Mari giggled. "Not in the last two hours. Oh, I take that back. My best friend wanted me to invite you to my coming home party she's planning. Actually, she forgot to tell me; her boyfriend was the one who mentioned it."

"That would be Alya? And Nino?"

"Yeah! Those two." Mari twirled her hair while she talked. "It's going to be next Friday, and it probably won't be very many people. Just some work friends, those two, maybe a few more. My parents for part of the night, maybe. I think my dad's making a cake, so they'll probably show up."

"Are we that far along in the relationship already?" he teased.

"I can text you when they're getting ready to leave if you want to avoid them. They can be a little overbearing. They mean well, but still. Take a chill pill!" She laughed, suddenly hoping that he thought her laugh was cute.

"I'll go on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I was calling to ask this anyway, but come to mine on Saturday. My parents are arranging it; they're a little overbearing, too."

"I'd love to. Your family seems nice, if a little uncreative in the names. What even made them think of that, anyway?"

"My mom's name is May, my dad is Mars."

"As in the month?"

"Oh, yeah. Guess when his birthday is."

"March."

"Bingo!"

Marinette switched positions, starting to feel a strain. "You guys are missing April! This is too funny."

"Actually, I had an older sister who died when we were kids. Her name was April. They don't like to talk about it."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. That must've been really hard on you all."

"Thanks. It was, but that's life. June doesn't even remember her aside from a birthday party or something weird, and Julien barely remembers more than that. I think it was easier on them."

"I'll bet."

"Enough about that, though. I'll come to your party on Friday, you're coming to mine on Saturday, and we'll meet everybody's friends and family and have a good time."

"What a way to come home! Oh, and Alya and Nino are ridiculous. Just ignore them when they start saying stupid stuff. It's, like, ninety-eight percent of the time, but you get the idea."

"My siblings are like that. I think they've already planned our wedding." He rolled his eyes, and Marinette could hear that the tone in his voice matched the gesture.

"Oh, just the wedding? I think Alya has our first child named. Probably after her, too."

"Makes sense. Friends are like that. Are those your only two close friends?"

"There's Adrien. He's taking care of Tikki while I'm away." Marinette blushed, thankful August couldn't see it.

"That's nice of him. He must know how important she is to you."

"Oh, yeah. He'll come over and feed her when I'm sick because he knows I can't even feed myself." She smiled sadly. "He's a good friend, but we're still navigating the friendship ropes."

"Did you date him?"

"I don't know if you could call it that. We kissed once, figured out it wouldn't work. He took care of my hamster anyway. Alya's not letting it go."

"This is why I have family taking care of Max. Nobody to make fun of me." He laughed, and Marinette found that she really liked the sound.

"That's actually a really good idea. Like, really good. I'm impressed."

"I'm glad to make a good impression."

"Hey, August, it's been great talking to you, but I really need some sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow. Can we talk more later?"

"Absolutely. If nothing else, I'll see you on the flight home."

"Awesome! Thanks. G'night."

"Night!"

Marinette hung up and stretched. _Meeting his parents. Meeting_ my _parents. This all feels fast, but I think it'll be worth it._

She plugged her phone in to charge and changed into pajamas before going through her nightly routine. When she returned to bed, she had a message from Adrien. Tikki was sleeping on Plagg, who was also sleeping. _'The snuggle bugs say goodnight.'_

"Huh. I should invite him to the party Alya's having."

' _the snuggle bugs are cute, give them kisses for me. Alya's having a party when I get back, I'll text you the details later. hope you can make it! also let's go out after and do the new piece, just surprise me. night'_

She turned her phone on silent and put it facedown so the light wouldn't bother her and turned the lamp off. Oh, she really hoped that Adrien could make it.

* * *

 _A/N: This one was hard to write, and I hope it doesn't show that much. Please let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading! Also, THANK YOU for all the sweet reviews! They make me a very happy woman on a weekly basis. Love you all! xoxo -wwot_


	11. The Bracelets

Marinette woke up and stretched, squinting at the unfamiliar surroundings. _Home. I'm home!_ She grinned and laid back on her pillows for another few moments. The flight home with August had been wonderful, the rest of the trip had been splendid, and now she was _home_.

She reached for her to do list, smiling again when she realized that she didn't have a written one. London had been amazing, but it was well past time to be home.

"Okay, shower, unpack, lunch, get ready, party, yarnbomb, get Tikki, home, bed. I can do this. Today's going to be great."

She stayed in bed for another hour and played games on her phone. Marinette eventually got up and did everything she needed to around her home. She spent extra time getting ready—she might as well try and impress August. Besides, what could it hurt if Adrien saw her looking so nice for someone else?

She put in some ladybug-shaped earrings, grinning to herself as she slid the backs on. She and Chat Noir—Adrien— _Adrien Noir?_ —were finally getting back out into their graffiti work after the party. Alya might laugh at her for being so obvious, but who cared? Nobody else would be able to tell.

Marinette arrived at the party early; she wanted to be there for when everybody else showed up. It would only be polite, since it was _her_ party. She knocked and walked in. "Hey guys, I'm here!" She closed the door after her and took off her sweater. _No point in wearing a cute dress if you're going to cover it up._

Alya squealed and hugged her. "It's so good to have you back!"

Nino offered a fist bump and a hug. "I need you to take her back. She's going stir-crazy from the lack of art to report on."

"No promises on what I can do after tonight, but I'll write down where we're gonna be for you." Marinette grinned. "I missed you two."

Alya took her by the arm and dragged her to the couch, Nino trailing behind. "I need a full report on London and on August. Are you really going to his party tomorrow?"

"Of course I am, Alya! We made a deal that we'd go to each other's parties. Sure, it might be a little fast, but it genuinely seems like he isn't a total moron. Besides, it's a happy occasion! We're back home safely. London didn't kill us, even though it felt like it from time to time. I finally have a guy who's interested in me and nobody else, even if the other person _is_ me."

"You just wait until you tell him what you do for fun." Alya smirked, sending a pointed look to Nino.

"That's not going to happen any time soon. I might mention that I crochet, but nothing beyond that. I don't need anybody else knowing unless it's a real commitment."

Nino nodded. "Sounds like you're serious. How do you feel about Adrien knowing?"

"I hate it a little bit, but it does make me feel better knowing exactly who has my hamster. It's a little easier for us, too. The friendship part is so…I already trusted him as Chat. I liked him, too, but I kept finding people I'd met in the daytime to test the dating waters with."

"You mean people like Adrien." Alya snickered when Mari glared at her.

"You did the same thing to Nino."

"You told me I was the only one for you!"

Marinette grinned. "Only when you weren't irritating the hell out of her by not asking her on a real date. But hey, no big deal. You still live together, right?"

The doorbell rang, and Marinette jumped to get it. "August! I'm so glad you could make it!" She hugged him and kissed his cheek quickly. "Did you find it okay? Were my directions alright?"

August smiled and gently nudged them to where he could close the door. "Yes, they were fine."

"You're the guy I've heard so much about. Alya, also known as the crazy chick who runs the Ladyblog." She held a hand out for him to shake.

August shook her hand, fidgeting to keep one arm around Marinette. "Good to meet you, Alya. I'm August, but it sounds like you knew that already. And I'm guessing this is Nino."

"That would be me. I'm pretty sure Alya and I will personally kick your ass if you do anything to hurt Mari."

"Nino!" Mari hid her face in her hands.

"Noted. I'll try not to do that. Oh, I have something for the guest of honor." He dug in his pocket and pulled out a box. "Happy coming home!"

Marinette raised an eyebrow and opened the box. "The Big Ben bracelet! You went back to get it!" Damn. Now she _really_ needed to finish the scarf for him.

August squeezed her shoulder. "It's no trouble."

"Oh, Alya! Here's my keys. I have stuff for you and Nino in my car." Mari threw them to Alya, who immediately dragged a protesting Nino with her.

"Thank you, August. I really do love it." Marinette slid the bracelet on and shook her wrist to admire it from different angles. "I have something for you, but you have to wait until tomorrow to get it." She smiled up at him, enjoying his gaze.

"And here I was worried that you'd forgotten." August bent his head down to kiss her but drew back when the door opened.

"Adrien!" Mari rushed forward and hugged him with the same enthusiasm that she'd hugged August with, minus the kiss.

"It's good to have you back. I think Tikki misses you even though Plagg's good at keeping her company."

"Adrien Agreste?" August let his mouth drop open. "You didn't tell me that Adrien _Agreste_ was taking care of Tikki!"

 _He didn't tell me, either._ "Oh, yeah. We met at a work thing one time. It's no big deal. Good friends. Right, Adrien?"

"Correct. Here, I got you something."

"Thank you! I'm sure I'll love it." Marinette opened the box and laughed. "The Eiffel Tower?"

"For when you, uh, get homesick."

August pressed his lips together. What in the hell was going on?

"Here, look at the bracelet August got me. Big Ben! I'll have to figure out which one to wear more." Marinette smiled at the two and slipped the Eiffel Tower bracelet onto her other wrist. "Damn, Adrien. Did you have my wrist measured or something?"

"Lucky guess."

Alya and Nino came back in with their own gift bags and opened them. Marinette reassured August that she really did have something for him, and she told Adrien the same.

Marinette's parents showed up next with her coworkers not far behind, and the party was fully underway.

Marinette flitted around and chatted with everyone, exchanging the funniest stories from her trip for what had happened while she was away. August got into some friendly competition with her coworkers, having already known some of them from work functions. Alya just tried to make sure that everybody was fed.

The main groups eventually left, leaving the original five with Tom and Sabine helping Alya clean up.

August relaxed with his arm around Marinette. "Got any plans? You wanna go somewhere tonight?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Sorry, August. I already told Adrien that I'd come and get Tikki tonight. I'd put it off, but I _really_ miss her."

"No problem. I just got Max back today. Totally understand." He stood and extended his hand to the other men in the room. "Adrien, Nino, good to meet you both. Hope to see you again sometime."

Nino and Adrien expressed the same, each trying to intimidate him with their grip.

August bid farewell to the remainder of the group and left.

Nino spoke before Adrien could. "I get a weird vibe from him, Mari. You need to be careful."

"Bug, I got one, too."

"Same here," Alya called from the kitchen.

Tom and Sabine both nodded.

"What? Where did this come from?"

Alya walked back in, drying her hands on her pants with Tom and Sabine following her. "You met him literally last week. We're just trying to protect you."

Nino stood to give someone else a place to sit; these were not his kinds of conversations.

"You and Nino moved in together after a month."

Alya took Nino's spot. "Yes, but we knew each other for years before that. It was probably gonna happen anyway whether or not we started dating. You've known this guy for a literal eight days, found a few things in common, and jumped into this mess. We're a little concerned, and we think it's justifiable because of that."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. I get it. I'll be careful! See? Nothing to worry about." She stood and hugged her parents. "Thank you guys for being worried about me. The cake was wonderful." Mari shot a glare to her friends over Sabine's shoulder. "Have a safe drive home."

"You too. Give our grandhamster our best!"

She kissed Sabine's cheek. "Thanks, Maman."

Tom picked her up in a tight hug. "Glad you have you back, Sugar."

"I love you, too, Papa."

Marinette waved at her parents as they left, closing the door when they were out of sight. "Okay. The plan for the rest of the day is do another Ladybomb—hello again, Paris!—and then go get Tikki. I miss her more than is probably healthy for a young woman of my standing."

"Probably. Can I come with you two?" Alya had a hopeful smile on her face despite knowing that Mari would likely turn her down.

"Sorry, Alya. I've really missed doing it, and I want it to feel normal. Next time, if Chat's up for it. Adrien. If Adrien's up for it."

"Sure, why not? We could use a neat documentation article." He grinned and took another sip of his drink. Virgin, Marinette guessed, despite the drinking from most of the rest of the group.

"Just no face shots. None. No profiles, nothing that can give our height away...just hands and feet, basically."

"Yes, Marinette, because I'd do that. Risk giving your identity away when you have some jackass destroying your artwork for kicks and giggles. Trust me, that would be a _lot_ harder to do if you guys were typical superheroes with your faces plastered everywhere."

Nino walked back in with a cookie shoved in his mouth. "Just don't pull a Tony Stark and you should be pretty good unless you do something else equally as stupid. Don't, by the way. Don't do something stupid. That would be pretty…"

"Stupid?" Adrien supplied.

"Exactly! Stupid."

Marinette smiled at the two. She was right in guessing they'd get along. "I think Adrien and I should get going if I want to get home with Tikki at a reasonable hour. I'll send you exact details, Alya. Please at least get sunrise photos, but I think sunset lighting would be better for my stuff. Adrien?"

"Yeah, sunset. If it lasts that long."

Mari's shoulders dropped an inch. "Yeah. _If._ "

Nino patted her on the back. "Even though some asshole likes to ruin your work, it's still good work. People wouldn't love it or jump to your aid and defend you if they didn't think so. Just don't think about it, be safe, and flip him the bird if you ever see him."

"Thanks, Nino. I needed that." She hugged him. "Don't break that snowglobe."

"Don't worry. I won't."

Adrien stood while Mari hugged Alya. "Thanks for the party!"

"Thanks for the camera charm! It's too cute."

"I knew you'd like it. I looked everywhere for the perfect thing."

"You did good. Now get a move on. Get your hamster. Have fun."

Adrien waved at them while he and Mari walked out. "Be safe. Thanks for letting me inside."

"If Mari forgives you, then so can we." Alya shrugged. "Send me pics."

"Will do! Bye now!" Marinette dragged Adrien to her car. "I'm guessing you were driven here?"

"I was. We'll need to stop at my place to get some paint. And you can see Tikki sooner."

"That would be marvelous."

* * *

 _A/N: This and the next chapter were supposed to be combined, but I got a little verbose AND long-winded. Whoops. Next chapter is more friendship bonding! Yay! Thanks for reading!_

 _In response to the reviews on the last chapter: Adrien's responses are coming, but this chapter was more from Marinette's perspective. Don't worry; we'll get there, friends! -wwot_


	12. The Indigo Splatters

Marinette parked by Adrien's car. "Oh, fancy green stripe. I've never noticed that before."

"Thanks. I think it looks snazzy. I call it the Catmobile."

"I'm not even surprised. Mine's not much better."

"And what's this one's name?" Adrien patted the door on her car.

"Nino and Alya started calling it Nellie after I added the spots. Like, short for _Coccinelle_."

"That's actually cute. At least yours has a reason."

"Eh, true. Now can we _please_ go inside? You're the one with the keys."

Adrien pretended to sigh. "I guess. I don't know why you're so eager to get it taken care of. We're _just_ getting _paint._ "

"I will break this door down to see my Tikki. Just watch me."

"Easy, bug. I'm just teasing you." He pulled out the appropriate key and opened the lock. "Plagg, you in here?"

Plagg walked by and gave Marinette a sidelong glance.

"Sorry, he's like that. Plagg, come here." Adrien stooped and picked him up, holding him tighter when he meowed. "He was sleeping last time you were over. Woke up right after you left, little stinker." Adrien kissed his head and leaned closer to Mari. "Say hi. You like Tikki, you kinda have to like her."

Marinette scratched his head with both hands. "Hi, sweet kitty. I'm so glad you kept Tikki company for me." She pressed her forehead against his and giggled when she felt a purr under her fingers. "See? That's not so bad."

"He gets a little bitchy sometimes. Likes to sleep in the pots. Too fat for his own good." Adrien kissed Plagg again and set him back down on the floor. "Let's go see Tikki. I'll get my stuff while you play with her." Adrien pointed to the appropriate door and let her walk in.

"Tikki!" Mari ran forward and unlocked the cage, scooping Tikki into her hands. "I missed you, little one." She kissed Tikki's head and grinned when she squeaked. "I'm glad Adrien kept you safe."

Plagg meowed and rubbed on her legs. Marinette stooped to scratch him behind his ear.

"Don't mind him. He's an attention whore." Adrien crouched and pet him anyway. "Okay buddy, we're gonna go vandalize Paris. Be good!"

Plagg meowed and rolled over. Adrien dropped a toy just out of his reach.

"Oh, wait! I have something for you two!" Mari put Tikki back in her cage and pulled two boxes out of her jacket pocket. "This one's for Plagg…" She opened it and put both halves on the floor. It was entirely empty, the perfect gift for a picky kitty.

Plagg tried to fit into one of the halves immediately despite being far too large.

"He loves it. Great choice."

Mari winked. "I'm good at gift-picking. Here." She held out the box for Adrien. It was smaller but the same colors as Plagg's—black and bright green.

He opened the box and put the ring on. "A cat ring. This is fantastic. I love it! I was wonder- _ring_ when you'd get such a perfect purr-esent!"

"Oh my gosh, Chat. You're ridiculous. But you're welcome. Ready to go?"

"Yep. We're taking my car, by the way. I'm a little less scared of it than of Nellie."

"That's fair. Did you get my stuff?"

"Sure did. Oh, I need you to drive while I cover up this pretty face."

Mari gave a dramatic sigh. "I guess I can do that even though we're taking _your_ car." She smirked and caught his keys as he tossed them to her. "Anything weird I need to know?"

"It makes some freaky sound when you turn the fan up all the way. Other than that, don't worry about it. Bye, Plagg."

Plagg meowed, sounding distressed.

"Yes, we're going!"

He mowed again, whining.

"No, you're _not_ getting camembert; cheese isn't good for cats, and you—no. Goodbye, I'll get you something better when I get home. Hurry and get out before he figures out I'm lying." Adrien blocked Plagg's exit, shut his door, and locked it behind them. "He's not gonna be happy with me later."

Marinette snickered. "You say all these mean things about him, but you say them in a cutesy voice. It's endearing."

"Hey, I do what I can." He climbed over and got some paint out of his glove box, dipping his fingers into the pot right away.

Marinette buckled herself in and started the car. "You might want to wait on that so people don't think I'm getting kidnapped." She backed out and braked right at the end of his driveway. She collapsed against the wheel, laughing, and put the car in park. "I can't believe I just did that!"

"What did you just do?"

"I tried to hit the clutch. I'm too used to my car." She shook her head and wiped a tear or two away.

"Yeah, no clutch in this car. It's _automatic_."

"That's some fancy-ass stuff right there." Marinette pulled out onto the road and started driving. "So, directions? You picked the spot this time, remember?"

"Hold on. Let me pull them up. Just go around the traffic circle a few times."

They eventually made it to their destination, finding the small plaza full of people.

"Dammit, Adrien. We can't do anything with that many people around! That's why we wait until midnight, I guess."

"I have a backup plan. Two streets down, take a left, and drive for about five minutes. I'll tell you when to stop."

Marinette rolled her eyes and followed his instructions, parking where Adrien said to. "Oh, this is a lot better. Nobody around. Am I sure you're not trying to kidnap me?" She unbuckled and started to get out.

"If I wanted to do that, I'd have done it sooner. Too many good opportunities have passed me by to wait until now." Adrien smeared the paint over his eyes and nose while Mari unloaded their supplies.

"Hey, I'm gonna go ahead and get started. Is that alright?"

"No, wait a sec. Come here."

Marinette huffed. "What for?" She sat in the car again anyway.

Adrien reached over and left two black dots on her cheek.

"What was that for?" She glanced up in the rearview mirror to see the damage.

"I didn't think it was fair that you could leave it off."

"Whatever." She got back out and lugged her basket to the lamppost while Adrien set the paint aside and got out himself.

The two worked in silence for a few minutes.

"Chat?"

"Hm?"

"I need your help. I'm not tall enough to reach where I'm trying to be, and neither are you."

"Use the bench." He gestured loosely and shook his can.

"You mean the bench that looks like it'll barely hold a bird, let alone me? No thanks. Come help me."

"Okay, sure. Because that's _super_ inconspicuous." He set the paint down and walked over, helping her onto his shoulders.

"I need you a little more to the left. Forward, please. Nope, too far. Okay, stop. You got me?"

"Nope, I'm gonna drop you at my earliest convenience."

"Bug off, Chat." She froze when she realized what she'd said.

He started laughing, and she carefully bopped his head. "Shut up, kitty." Marinette finished the seam and scratched his scalp. "Thank you. You can put me down now."

"What if I don't?"

"Put me _down_ , Chat Noir."

He hid his look of amusement and lowered her down to the sidewalk. "As you wish."

"That might be the greatest movie of all time, but don't think for a second it's going to work on me."

"I'm literally wearing black with something like a mask on. You're wearing a red dress, too."

Marinette ignored him, tending to her last few seams instead.

Chat took his time in his details. The basic blocking for the color almost never took long—unless the surface wasn't receptive to paint—but the details in this piece were frustrating him. Too many creases in the lips, too _few_ creases, the loose strands of hair weren't flying the right way…

He wiped some sweat off his forehead and bit his lip in thought.

"It looks really good, Chat."

"It needs something."

"I think it's the undertones on the hair. Darken those if you can."

He nodded and sprayed the appropriate color for a little longer than he had before. "That's better, but it needs something else, too."

Marinette squinted. "I think you need to darken the shadows in general. It's the contrast you're not liking."

"You're right!" He shook up the right cans and darkened everything, eventually brightening the highlights that laid alongside the darker shadows. "There. How's that?"

"Too perfect. It needs something to mar the beauty."

He bit his cheek and pulled out the indigo paint. He splattered it on his painting, centering it towards the lips and fingernails. "Better?"

"Much." She hugged him, resting her cheek on his chest. "I've missed this a lot. Thanks for coming out here with me."

"You know I'd do it any day out of the year." He kept her close, settling his chin on her head.

"Dammit. Come here." Marinette backed the two of them against the wall where there was no paint and pulled his head down. "Act like you're kissing my neck. Someone's coming this direction."

Chat hesitated but listened to her instructions. He knew how difficult it would be to explain the situation if they weren't two errant lovers.

She tugged on his shirt and kept whispering. "They're on your right. Angle your head toward me." She raised her voice when the stranger got nearer. "Bastian! Goodness, we're in public!" She giggled and pulled on his hair, blushing when his lips actually made contact with her skin. "Ah, Bastian!"

The woman walking by scoffed at the two and kept going, ignoring Marinette's professions of love to "Bastian." Kids these days.

Marinette released her grasp when the woman was out of sight. "You can stop. Sorry about that."

He shook his head. "Sorry. Didn't mean to actually kiss you."

"I-I pulled you down. It's my fault." She pressed her lips together. "You need to sign it before we leave."

Chat wordlessly got his stencil out and sprayed it in the corner of the piece.

"So, why this?"

"You did sloths, so I went with the theme."

"What theme?"

"Seven Deadly Sins. She's supposed to be lust." He shrugged. "I don't know entirely why it's her fault, though. People should control their thoughts."

"I think some people say that women shouldn't intentionally tempt men, but I also think that some people could be tempted if you literally wore a tent with a piece of rope. Where's the balance?"

"Not in _that_ dress." Chat winked at Marinette.

"Hey, it's an appropriate length. It's just above the knee. It even has sleeves."

"Ah, but the _neckline, chérie._ "

"You're an ass."

"And I thought you'd mistaken me for something else." He gathered his paints and put them back in his car. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I am. I want to get home with Tikki, and I need to finish my present for August." She climbed in after he did; she didn't want to be indecent with the dress.

"What are you making him?"

"A scarf. Because I don't crochet enough, apparently."

"I still have the one you gave me for Christmas. I wore it all winter."

"Good. I stayed up all night the night before to finish it."

"I'm flattered, bug. And I love this ring, too. It might become my new permanent accessory." He flashed the ring and held it next to his face as though he were posing for a photographer.

Marinette glanced over and laughed. "I'm glad you like it. I saw it and thought of you, and I knew I had to buy it for you."

"By the way, the Eiffel tower isn't for when you get homesick."

"I thought you said that funny. What's it really for?"

"We had that conversation about you wanting to yarnbomb the Eiffel Tower, and I liked the idea, so I got you something that wouldn't be as hard to accomplish." He looked away from her to hide his expression. "I just didn't want you to give up on your dream, even if it's improbable."

"Chat, that's actually really sweet. I'll keep it. I need a lucky charm." She flashed a smile at him. "You should probably wash your face off now. I don't want to get pulled over."

"Oh, right!"

* * *

Adrien laid awake with Plagg curled beside him, who was already mourning the loss of Tikki to Marinette. "I know, buddy. She was fun to have around." _Both of them, I guess._

Plagg meowed at him.

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't get you a snack. You're fat enough. The vet said I should get you on a diet. No, don't bitch at me. What does she know? She only takes care of cats for a living."

Plagg rolled over, pushing at Adrien's side.

Adrien sighed and shifted his position. "What does she see in August, Plagg? August and his stupid Big Ben bracelet. Dumb eyes and bad hair. She invited him to her party and wore that dress for no good reason. She's making him a scarf! She makes everybody a scarf at some point, I guess, but still. A scarf! It's June! You're right; it _is_ silly. And he talked about stupid Steph all night. Who the hell's Steph? She sounds stupid, too. They'd be perfect for each other. Ow, what was that for?" He rubbed his arm where Plagg had scratched it. "Jackass."

He settled with his arm over his face. _Damn. Can't believe I left the light on. No, no; I_ can _believe it._ He groped for something to throw at the light switch and found a toy of Plagg's, hitting the switch with one shot. "Yes!" He threw his fist in the air and rolled over, hugging his pillow. "Plagg, you never play with that damn thing. I'm giving it to Tikki tomorrow. She loved it."

Plagg meowed, which Adrien took for an agreement before he fell asleep.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews you left on the last chapter! As I promised some of you, here's more of Plagg being a stinker with some artistic stuff thrown in the middle :) The next chapter is going to be interesting, to say the least. It's less plot for a few chapters, but I have to set some stuff up, so bear with me for a few weeks! Love you all! xoxo -wwot_


	13. The Stain

"Sorry, little bug. I'll bet you got used to Adrien feeding you nice and early." Marinette replaced the water in Tikki's cage and fed her. "I hope that's better. I'll be home after today to play with you. I promise." She gently rubbed Tikki's back with a finger, closing the cage when she was done. "Missed you. Love you."

Marinette got out the leftover yarn from the sloth project and sat down to finish August's scarf. She wasn't in love with the colors, but they would complement his eyes nicely. Mari murmured to herself while she counted the stitches and tugged on the yarn with the hook, relaxing all the while.

Someone knocked on the door, breaking her out of her crocheting trance. "Maribug, it's me."

"Coming! Just a second!" She finished her stitch and ran over. "Adrien, hi. What are you doing here?"

Adrien held up a cat toy. "Plagg never plays with it, and Tikki liked it, so I thought it would get more use with you two."

"Oh. Thank you." Marinette took the toy and moved out of the way. "Come in. We can chitchat while I crochet, since you're over here."

"But only since I'm over here."

"Yep. That's the only reason."

Adrien closed the door and checked his watch. "You've eaten lunch, haven't you?"

"No, why?" She settled herself back into her chair and resumed crocheting.

"It's past two."

Mari stopped, dropping the loop on her hook. "Are you serious?"

"You were busy crocheting and forgot, didn't you?"

"I-I…maybe…"

"Put the crocheting down and come make yourself lunch. I'll help." He pried the hook out of her fingers and set it aside with the scarf and yarn. "Come on."

"But I only have five more rows left!"

"They will still be there after you eat. It's not like Plagg's around to mess it up, and Tikki's asleep in her cage. Did you feed her this morning?"

"I fed her. Not as early as you probably did; she was whining a little."

"I'm up early for shoots a lot. Come on, kitchen."

Marinette followed him, a wrinkle in her brow. "Then how do you stay up so late?"

"Cat naps, Lady. I didn't pick _Chat Noir_ for no reason. I've never kept a regular sleeping schedule." He opened a few doors until he found a plate and some peanut butter and set them on her counter.

"That's not good for you, Adrien. That could have long-term consequences on your health." She got jelly out of the fridge and a spoon out of her drawer. "Get yourself a plate. I'm not eating alone. Bread's over there. Wait, how did you know what I wanted to eat?"

"Alya told me it was your go-to. I forget how it came up." He handed her the bread and leaned back on the counter. "Not eating regularly isn't healthy either, you know."

"I just get distracted with creating. I have alarms set so I don't forget to feed Tikki, so I go to work on time, so I don't run out of gas…" Marinette waved the spoon around, trying to gather her thoughts. "I just never find most things as intriguing as making something. Tikki is one of few exceptions. Friends and family, too, but other than that, almost nothing." She shrugged and centered the top piece of bread on the bottom one. She licked excess jelly from her finger and got a knife out to cut them into little triangles. "Besides, it keeps life interesting. Here you go." Mari handed the second plate to Adrien, who accepted it with a thank you.

They ate in relative silence, both lost to their own thoughts. Marinette scarfed hers down and cleaned her hands, swiftly working the last few rows. "Adrien?"

"Hm?"

"What got you into graffiti?"

He laughed for a brief moment. "When I was, like, thirteen, my dad told me I had to take a painting class to become more cultured or something like that. He said it could be any painting class of my choosing, so I went and found one on street art. I signed up, he was furious. I told him he said it could be _any_ painting class, and he grumbled about it but let me. I was taught by some old guy. Made us call him Master somebody. I got pretty good at it, for a kid."

"You have some of the best I've seen. I'm sure you were wonderful." Marinette started snipping threads to add fringe.

"Yeah. Kinda funny that the few things I've seen from Papillion are just as good. Anyway, I kept it up and ran into you that night."

"I'm glad you did. Crocheting keeps me sane, but it always made me nervous to yarnbomb by myself."

"Sure. You're going into secluded areas at night. It scared the hell out of me, too."

Marinette nodded and stared at the scarf. "This fringe looks weird. What do you think?" She held it up so he could see the portion she'd done.

"Just leave it off. He'll notice, but tell him it was a statement on life's rigid nature."

She shook her head and started cutting the fringe off. "That's just dumb enough to work."

Adrien smiled and picked her plate up. "Do I need to rinse these off before I put them in your dishwasher?"

"I think you're supposed to. Guess how I handle it."

"You don't." He walked into the kitchen and rinsed the dishes off anyway. "Thanks for second lunch."

"Thanks for Tikki's toy. Plagg's toy, I guess."

"No problem. I was this direction anyway. When's August's party?"

"He's picking me up at 5. I told him I could drive over, but he insisted on public transit. No idea why. Totally ruined my shoe plans. What a jerk. Is a blue bag okay for a present?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"He used a blue box for mine. Is there some weird thing where you can't use the same color gift receptacle the next day?"

Adrien snorted back a laugh. "Gift receptacle?"

"Shut up. I'm trying to impress my boyfriend. Is blue okay?"

"Blue's fine. I promise. He'll love it, and he'll love the scarf."

"How's this for the paper? Is it spaced well enough?"

Adrien turned Marinette around so she was facing him. "It's perfect. Quit worrying about it. August will be impressed, and he will love it." He kissed her cheek and pulled her into a hug. "I need to get going. Let me know how it goes. Text me if you need a ride—or anything else, actually. The Chat number, not the Adrien number. Damn, that gets confusing."

Mari giggled and hugged him back. "It does. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome. Bye now." Adrien waved and shut the door behind him.

* * *

August knocked on her door a couple of hours after Adrien left. "Marinette?"

She rushed to the door as she pulled on her flats. "Hold on!" Marinette opened the door and smiled. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me get a sweater." She grabbed one from the hook beside her door and folded it over her arm. "Alright. Let's get going."

August offered his arm. "Shall we, my lady?"

She bit her cheek and accepted his arm. "Uh, please don't call me that. Long story."

"Why?"

"August, it's a long story. I don't really want to explain it right now."

He stopped, forcing her to stop beside him. "I was just asking a question, Marinette. No need to get so defensive about it."

"I wasn't getting defensive. I just don't want to talk about it." She pulled her arm from his and stared at him. "We're gonna miss it if we don't get going now." Marinette walked forward a couple of steps and jerked back when he grabbed her arm. "August, we need to go. It's _your_ party." She yanked her arm out of his grasp and kept walking. "I'm not making a bad impression because you're determined to get into an argument." Marinette hugged herself as she waited a few feet away from him at the stop.

August stayed silent until they boarded. "Marinette, I'm sorry."

She shot him a look. "It's fine. I don't know why it was that big of a deal to you."

He shrugged, looking in the opposite direction.

Marinette leaned her head back and closed her eyes. _Well, an argument was a great way to start the evening._

August tapped her knee when they needed to get off.

"Thanks." She gathered everything into her arms again and followed him.

He held the door open for her when they arrived. "Mom? I'm here with Marinette!"

A short woman came around the corner. "Marinette! What a lovely name. I've heard so much about you." She pulled Marinette into a hug.

"It's nice to meet you, Madame Mazet." Marinette returned the hug and stepped back.

"Just call me May. And you can call my husband Mars. Do you need me to take your sweater? Purse?"

"No, no. Thank you."

"Come sit with us, dear. And we'll have August open your present. You did a good job with the tissue paper, by the way. I can never get it to lay right." She took the bag from Marinette and led them into the living room. "Look who I found!"

Marinette introduced herself to everybody and perched on a chair while the other guests arrived. She ended up knowing a few of his work colleagues, but she wasn't sure why August directed her away from them. Marinette sat by herself much of the night, ending up at the snack table often.

"I see you like my cooking."

"Oh, May. Yeah, I do. It's excellent. It's all excellent."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Marinette smiled, and she hoped that May didn't notice that it didn't reach her eyes. "I am." _That's what you're supposed to say, isn't it?_

"You'll let me know if you need anything, right?"

"Of course! Of course I will." She nodded, praying the gesture would convey well enough.

"Alright, dear." May patted Marinette's shoulder and went on to her family and the rest of the guests.

Marinette got another handful of chips and spooned more dip onto her plate. The plate was starting to lose its stability from having so many wet things on it over the course of the night, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She turned from the table and bumped into somebody, smearing dip over the front of her dress. Marinette froze at the wetness seeping through the fabric.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

"I-it's fine. It was an accident." Marinette threw her plate away and accepted the woman's offer to help clean up.

"I'm so sorry. I should've watched where I was going."

"It's okay, really. I do stuff like this all the time. Well, in when I was in school, anyway." Marinette shrugged and dabbed at the denser parts of the smear. "I'm Marinette, by the way."

"Steph. How do you know August?"

"Met him in London, happen to be from around here. Small world, huh?"

"Oh, Marinette! That makes sense. I was wondering how you didn't know anybody. Augie and I went to school together. We've been friends for ages. His sister was one of my best friends." Step handed over another damp towel and took the one Marinette had used all the way up.

"June?"

"No, the other one. Oh damn, he told you, right?"

"Yeah, August told me. That just sucks." Marinette looked at the spot. "I think my sweater will cover this."

"Yeah, if you wear it backwards!"

"What happened in here?" August poked his head into the kitchen.

"I bumped into your girlfriend and got dip all over her dress."

"C'mon, Steph. I'm trying to keep this one." He walked over and threw the pile of paper towels away. "Mari, you could go home if you wanted. I wouldn't be upset."

"Are you sure? That would be great. I don't want to be in this all evening."

"I'm sure. I'll just explain the mishap and everybody will understand. Oh, hold on a minute." He left abruptly, leaving Steph and Marinette to stare at each other.

August returned a moment later with Marinette's present. "I'll open it now, if that's alright."

"Go right ahead! That's what it's for."

He took the paper out and smiled when he saw it. "You made that for me?" He took it out and unfolded it to its full length. "I can't use this until winter, but it's beautiful."

"Well, you'll have one just in case it snows."

He looped it around his neck a couple of times, carefully hugged Marinette, and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

Steph admired it for a moment before excusing herself.

"I'm so glad you like it."

August leaned down and kissed her quickly. "Of course I do."

Marinette's face brightened a shade. "I should, um, get home now. I don't want to, uh, you know."

"Right, right. Here's your sweater and purse, by the way."

"Thanks. Tell your mom I said thanks! And the rest of your family, too!"

August walked her to the front door. "Of course I will. Stay safe, Marinette." He waved while she walked down the sidewalk.

Marinette shrugged her sweater on and slung her purse over her shoulder. "Crap, how am I getting home?" She turned in circles a few times, searching for an answer. "Adrien isn't terribly far from here. He could at least give me a ride to his place." Mari dialed the number, happy when he picked up. "Adrien!"

"Hey! I thought the party wasn't supposed to be over for another hour or two."

"It's not. I got dip spilled on me, so I left to get my dress cleaned off. Uh, can I ask you for a favor?" Marinette ran her fingers through the hair she'd left loose.

"Depends on the favor, my lady."

"I need you to come get me. I'll text you an address. I can't possibly wear this all over Paris."

"Is ten minutes okay? I need to throw a shirt on."

"You can come without it if you want." _Damn, Marinette. Where did_ that _come from?_

"Don't tempt me, woman. See you shortly."

"See you soon." Marinette plopped down on the nearest bench to wait.

Adrien arrived soon enough and rolled down the window. "You can hop in that way or through the back seat. Damn window works but the door doesn't, of course."

Marinette tossed her purse through the window and climbed in that way, buckling herself as he accelerated. "Thank you. I appreciate it. Wait, you missed the turn for my house."

"I have some stupid good stain removers that you can have. It's not that far, and I don't use them that much." Adrien turned down a few roads and into his driveway. "Do you want me to go get it, or do you want to use it here?"

"I have nothing else going on. Do you have a shirt I can borrow?"

"Sure do. Come on in."

* * *

 _A/N: Because doing emergency laundry at your partner-in-crime's house always ends well. Also, THANK YOU for all the nice reviews! I really love reading them every week! xoxo -wwot_


	14. The Stain Remover

"Here, Maribug. Drawstring pants." Adrien handed over the soft pants with a clean shirt. "Need help changing?"

Marinette blushed. "Um, the zipper? I can get it, but it's easier without help. If you don't mind. I'll figure it out if you do mind."

"You're acting like I don't do this all the time. Turn." He unzipped it halfway. "Can you get it from there?"

She reached behind her back to feel where it was. "I can, thanks."

"Hand it out so I can start soaking it." He closed his bedroom door behind himself, fully aware of the humor in the situation. He picked her up from her boyfriend's party, and now he had her undressing in his room.

The door opened a crack, and Marinette's hand with the dress popped out. "Thank you."

"No problem!" He took the dress and ran it under cold water while he read the instructions on the bottle.

Marinette came in while he was still reading and peeked at it over his shoulder. "Is this even in French?"

"The middle portion, yes. I think the other part's Korean. And English, of course. Wait, what does that say?"

She pointed to the words as she spoke. "Soak, spray, rub, soak, launder."

"Are you sure?"

"Adrien, it's right on the package. I'm pretty sure."

"If you say so." He sprayed the stain remover on and rubbed it in.

"No, circular motions. Like when you're putting foundation on." Mari demonstrated with her fingers.

Adrien stopped for a second. " _I_ don't put it on. _It_ gets put on _me_."

"Whatever. You still know how it works."

He huffed and rubbed it in circles.

"Have you even used this stuff before?"

"Yes. Once. My dad bought it when I complained about something not coming clean. He doesn't know why I do my own laundry, but he got it for me anyways. Actually, he probably told his assistant to find something and send it with his name on it. Wouldn't surprise me." Adrien started rinsing the stain.

Marinette frowned. "That's terrible, Adrien. I'm sorry."

"Eh, I'm used to it. I don't think he much approves of stuff I do, but he hasn't fired me, so there's that. Sometimes I'd like to quit, but it's a steady job, and it pays well. Overall, can't say that it's a bad gig. Do you think that's rinsed enough?"

"Probably. What do the directions say?"

Adrien squinted at the tiny letters. "I have no idea. I'm gonna call it fine. Cold water fine to wash it in?"

"You should always use cold if you're not sure about the stain. Heat sets it in. Yeah, ask me how I found that out." Marinette bent down and picked Plagg up, following Adrien to his washer. "How do you think I found that out? Huh?" She shifted his weight to just one arm so she could scratch his head. "How's that? Am I your new favorite? Or does Tikki still have a few points on me?"

Adrien stared at her for a moment. Even if he ignored that she was in his clothes—which was difficult, _so_ difficult—he couldn't deny that there was something so stunning about her cuddling his cat and talking to him like he was more than just a fat, lazy animal.

"Okay, down you go. Making my arms hurt." She stretched a little as Adrien closed the door. "Your cat is freaking huge."

"I know. I've tried everything to help him get to a healthier weight, but he's really that fat. I wish I could say that it's muscle and give the poor guy some credit, but he's just fat. Yes, you are. No, don't argue. You almost broke Marinette."

She giggled. Adrien shook his head in disbelief and started the washer.

"It'll be like an hour before that's done. I can take you home in that, or you can hang around. Or you can leave. Whatever floats your boat."

"I'll hang around. I'm sure the party isn't even over anyway. Besides, Plagg's my new cuddle buddy." She flashed a smile and left to sit on the couch. Plagg jumped when she shifted her weight, settling when he saw who it was.

Adrien followed her, scooping Plagg into his own lap. "Other than the dip-saster, how was the party?"

Mari rolled her eyes. "Okay but weird. His family is super nice, and his friends are, too. August kept interrupting our conversations, which is strange. I know some of his work friends, just like he knew some of mine. I spent most of my time at the snack table because I got booted out of conversations every time he showed up. He liked his scarf, though. He even kissed me for it."

"That's nice."

Marinette nodded noncommittally. "It's odd that it was every time he came over. Like, dude, let me get to know your friends, too."

"Did you just call your boyfriend 'dude'?" Adrien stroked one finger along Plagg's chin.

"Shut up. I'm trying to make a point."

"Okay, okay. Point taken. It is weird, Mari. You need to watch out."

"He also called me 'my lady,' and I asked him not to because that's your nickname for me. Granted, I didn't give him a reason, but I asked him not to, and he got all upset with me. We practically had an argument in the street." She tugged her hair out of the braid she'd done and combed her fingers through it.

Adrien pressed his lips together and batted Plagg's paw. "You're freaking me out with this already, Marinette. That's not normal behavior."

Marinette stared at nothing while she formulated an answer. "It's one time. He was probably stressed about the party stuff."

"He shouldn't be yelling at you because he's stressed about something else."

"He didn't exactly yell, Adrien. He just got really nosy and a little mad when I didn't explain. No yelling was involved."

Plagg hopped off Adrien's lap and wandered off. "He still shouldn't be arguing with you if he's stressed. Not that we've never done that as friends, but it's not healthy, and you've known the guy a little over a week."

"Why does everybody keep bringing that up? We'll have known each other longer than that in no time, this will all be a forgotten instance—minus the dress incident—and we'll all get along." Marinette hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on one of them.

"If you say so."

"I do, Adrien. Oh my gosh, no wedding jokes!"

"But you brought it up!"

She poked his nose. "No. None."

He licked her finger, laughing when she shrieked.

"Ew! Adrien!" She wiped the finger on his knee and scooted away from him with a pout. "What was that for?"

"You poked my nose. Your finger was _right there_ , waiting to be licked."

"That's gross, Adrien. I expected it from your cat, not from you."

"Plagg doesn't lick. He scratches."

"Whatever. Oh, Alya's calling." Marinette answered it. "Yeah?"

"Ladyblog. Now."

"Hold on, Alya. Putting you on speakerphone." Marinette switched over and started opening the Tumblr app. "Say hi."

"Hey, August!"

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Actually, it's Adrien. Wardrobe mishap, Mari's doing laundry here."

"What?"

"Someone ran into me and spilled dip on me. I left to get it taken care of, but August didn't let me drive there. Called Adrien because he wasn't far. Two seconds, Alya." Marinette swiped and pressed a few more buttons until she found the Ladyblog. "Son of a bitch, Al. Again? You called to tell me that?" She turned the screen toward Adrien so he could see the damage.

"The hell?" Adrien scrolled through the pictures, shaking his head.

"Hey, I got the sunset pictures you asked for. It just didn't have the complete artwork. The sunrise ones aren't bad, though."

"I have half a mind to stake it out and figure out who's doing it. This is uncalled for." Mari bounced her leg to diffuse some of the anger.

"Don't, Mari. That's not what we call a safe life choice."

"Alya's right. We really shouldn't mess with that."

"Are you suggesting that we sit here and do nothing? It's not right, Adrien."

"No, it's not right, but putting yourself in danger isn't going to be helpful, either."

"Then what do we do?"

Alya started typing, which could be heard over the phone. "Right now, nothing. I'll do more research on it—like I haven't already—and see what I can find. Surely Papillion has slipped up somewhere. We're pretty sure he did the one with the butterfly taking the ladybug, right?"

Plagg meowed and wandered back onto the couch.

"I'm pretty sure, Alya. The color they used for the purple in the butterfly is the same one they use all the time. It's a pretty rare color to sell. I doubt many people would buy it anymore unless they wanted that negative association. Ow, Plagg, quit it!" Adrien pried Plagg from his lap and settled him differently. "I understand that you're still upset with me for taking them from you, but that doesn't mean you should retaliate! Stupid cat."

Marinette giggled to herself. "Gee, why do you know so much about it?"

Alya was silent for a moment. "Adrien, do you know what the color's called?"

"Not specifically. I can find someone to ask. My paint guy probably knows. It's definitely in the cool purple family, definitely metallic. Probably purchased some time ago, based on the spray patterns."

Marinette opened and closed her mouth a few times while she searched for words. "You have a paint guy?"

"Don't you have a yarn person?"

"Well, yes, but you've never talked about your paint guy."

"It didn't come up."

"Marinette, is this what it feels like when you're on the phone with Nino and me? Because you two are ridiculous."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Look, I'll do research, I'll let you know what I find, and you can get home whenever you get out of Adrien's clothes. You _are_ wearing clothes, right?"

"No, Alya. She's embracing her inner nudist." Adrien fought to keep the corner of his mouth down.

"Adrien! Yes, I'm definitely wearing clothes. Yes, they're Adrien's. You'd be complaining a lot more if I had my own clothes over here, by the way." Marinette pouted to Adrien.

"Either way, this is blackmail material. The blackest of blackmail."

"Shut up, Alya." Marinette hid her face in one hand despite Alya's need to keep talking.

"This will be great. 'Alya, can you do something for me?' 'Depends, do you remember that time you were dating August and ended up in Adrien's house in his clothes?' Oh, I can't wait to tell Nino!"

Adrien sat with a grin slowly spreading on his face.

"If you tell Nino, you're a dead woman. Or do you want me to tell Adrien everything I've heard from your _accidental_ phone calls? Better yet, your sisters. All of them. Actually, no, just one of them, and I won't tell you which one, but they'll all slowly learn it from each other."

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me."

"I'll tell your mom about what happened at that sleepover before graduation."

"She already knows about that! Ha!"

Adrien interrupted them. "We get the point. It's blackmail! But don't share it with anybody else. Alya, didn't you want to start doing research?"

Plagg leaned over and meowed right into the phone.

"Plagg's right. You should probably get right on that. Let us know what you find, bye now." Adrien hung up on Alya despite her protests. "Sorry. Just wanted to get her back on track."

"It was a little rude, but thanks. We get distracted pretty easily."

"I hadn't noticed."

"Whatever. But can we have a serious conversation about this? Just the two of us."

"About what?"

Marinette pressed her lips together while she figured out what to say. "This whole Papillion debacle makes me want to stop doing yarnbombing. It makes me feel like my art isn't good enough, and I'm really considering quitting it altogether if we don't get this solved."

"I…wow. It makes sense, of course, but okay. I can't say that I blame you at all, but why?"

"I just put so much time into my pieces, and it's disheartening to have someone come along and destroy it every time I put it out there. It would be one thing if it were an animal, or because the piece was old, but it's been every time for a few months now. It's really upsetting."

"I can assure you that your art _is_ good enough. We just have some jackass who wants to ruin our fun, that's all. I wouldn't blame you for quitting, though. I expect mine to get painted over, but I never thought this would happen to your stuff, too. I really wouldn't blame you."

She nodded slowly as his words sunk in. "I'll keep doing it for a little while, but I'll make no promises if this keeps happening to us. I'm not about to keep having my work destroyed."

—

 _A/N: Well, there's that. Sorry it's abrupt; I had no idea how to end it without it being an excessively long chapter in comparison to the rest. Thanks for reading! And thank you for all the lovely reviews! They really keep me going throughout the week. -wwot_


	15. The Invitation

"What do you think? Is the stain gone?"

Marinette turned the dress over in her hands. "I think I'd notice it. Eh, we'll throw it in the dryer. Worst case scenario is that I have to do something to alter it. It didn't fit the best anyway." She tossed the dress in the dryer and closed the door. "How do you work this thing? My parents' is just a couple of dials and a start button."

Adrien laughed and pressed the appropriate buttons for her. "There you go. You hungry? I can get you something."

"No. I ate way too much at the party. Madame Mazet makes really good snack food, which was why I was at the snack table in the first place."

"Makes sense. Can't say I'm any different when I have free reign." He reached over and ran his fingers through her hair, now wavy from the braid she'd undone. "You should wear it like this more often. It looks good on you."

Her cheeks warmed as she reached up to touch the other side of her hair. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

Adrien twirled a piece of hair around his fingers. "Of course."

They stood awkwardly for a few moments, fully aware of how close they were in the small space.

Plagg knocked something down in another room.

"I should get that."

"Yeah, you should."

Adrien shuffled himself out of the way and scolded Plagg, silently grateful that the situation had been diffused.

Marinette leaned back on the dryer, observing everything but the door. _What was that even about?_

"Mari, your phone's ringing. It's August."

"Dammit!" She ran into the other room and snatched her phone from Adrien. "Hello?"

"Hey, sweet thing. Did you make it home okay?"

Marinette made a face. "I'm not home yet. I, uh, stopped at a friend's house. They're helping me get my dress washed."

"Well, tell Alya I said hello. Call me when you get home?"

"Um, will do. Bye now."

"Love you."

Mari swallowed awkwardly. "Uh, you too. Bye." She hung up before he could say anything else, frowning. "Was that weird?"

Adrien bobbed his head from side to side. "A little."

"Bad weird? Oh, it was. I don't know why I'm even asking that question." She sunk into the couch, covering her face with her hand. "How did I let myself get into this?"

"Just talk to him. You like him, and he should pay attention if that makes you uncomfortable. If he wants to keep dating you, that is. Within reason, of course, and this is reasonable." He patted her knee to reassure her.

"What did Plagg knock over?"

"Oh, some pictures. Here, let me show them to you." Adrien leaned over the back of his couch and grabbed the two frames. "This one's my mom and me. I think my dad took the picture."

"You're too cute. You look happy." Marinette traced a finger over his small face. Adrien looked like her, but she wasn't about to say that; he probably heard it all the time.

"Yeah, we were. Here's the other one. It's that one you let me take of us." He exchanged the frames so she could see the second picture.

"I forgot you took this." She stared at it and traced his features under the paint—oh, how oblivious she was. She should've noticed something much sooner. Marinette ignored how her hair was messy, how the paint was smearing, how her tongue stuck out as she tried to get the seam finished and ignore whatever Chat was doing. "Why'd you frame this one?"

"It makes me happy to see you lost in your work, and it's the only one I have of us as LB and Chat." He shrugged, staring at his mother's image.

"I like this picture of you. Me, not so much. I don't like how I look in pictures. But you look good in this one. For a model, anyway." She flashed a smile at him, dropping it when she saw how upset he'd become. "I didn't mean it like that. I think you look good regardless." Mari reached out for his knee on the logic that he would be comforted by it if he used the method on her. She hesitated before resting her palm there. "Adrien?"

He laid his hand over hers. "I miss her. Dammit, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to start this." He wiped a tear away from his eye and grabbed the pictures to put them back. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I don't blame you." She rubbed her thumb along the side of his knee.

He pushed her hand away. "I don't think you want that reaction from me right now." He laughed halfheartedly, shaking his head.

Marinette tucked her hands into her lap while her ears warmed up. "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It happens. You might even say that I can _rise_ to most any occasion." He winked despite the color in his cheeks.

Mari lightly smacked his arm. "You're incorrigible."

"Why me? You're the one who _brought it up_."

"You're making me regret coming over here."

"I think you mean _re-greste_."

Marinette shook her head. "I think that one only works for you."

"So you're not the purr-ferred recipient of the pun?" Adrien grinned, ready to dodge if she reached out for him. He wasn't quick enough.

Her hand darted forward, fingers digging into his side. She jumped out of the way when he lunged for her. "Ha! Too slow!"

Adrien reached for her, not used to having a disadvantage. "You should know that I have catlike reflexes!" He missed, falling into his couch.

Marinette hovered behind the arm of the couch. She bounced on her toes, ready to dash in either direction.

He jumped right over the arm and his fingers brushed the fabric in her pants— _his_ pants—but she got away, a smile threatening her face.

"I didn't know cats reflexed that slow." She ignored just how dumb she sounded, hoping he would as well.

"I didn't expect ladybugs to fly that fast." Adrien circled her so she was between him and the couch. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into his arms, tickling her all the while.

"Adrien!" She laughed and squirmed in his grasp, shrieking when he collapsed backwards onto the couch with her. Marinette tried to tickle him back, but he grabbed her wrists and held her there.

"Hi." He nestled his chin onto her shoulder.

"Hi. I guess I deserved that, huh?"

"Was it too much?" Adrien let go of her wrists and laid his hands so they weren't touching her.

Marinette sat up and shook her head. "No, no. You're fine." She moved so she wasn't on top of him, a smile still turning her lips. "I let you get me."

"Sure you did. But seriously, did I hurt you at all?"

Mari looked at her wrists. "I don't think it'll bruise. Even if it did, you didn't mean to hurt me." She shrugged. "No big deal. See? Not hurt." She shook her wrists for him to see. "What time is it?"

Adrien glanced at his watch. "Nowhere near time for the dress to be dry. I can take you home and drop it by tomorrow if you have somewhere to be then."

"I kinda wanted to go to church with Papa. It's been a while since I've been, and I know he'd appreciate it. That's not what I was going to wear, but I did want to go."

"Surely it hasn't been that long since you've been."

"Uh…" Marinette twirled her hair around one finger. "I think the last time I went was during Lent? Ash Wednesday! I went for Ash Wednesday."

"It's almost July. I can see how seriously you take it."

"Whatever, Adrien. It's still more often than you go." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"How do you know that?"

Plagg meowed from where he'd curled up under the table.

"You hush. I don't need you making my points for me." Adrien sighed. "The last time I went was with my mother. It never felt the same without her."

Marinette pressed her lips together, filtering through the possibilities. "You're always welcome to go with Papa and me. I know it's not the same, but he'd really enjoy that. So would I, I mean. I'd enjoy it."

"Doesn't your mother go?"

"Uh, no. She used to, even more than Papa, but she had, um, some bad experiences. Papa doesn't go to that church anymore, but Maman won't let up. I'd explain, but it's kinda complicated."

Adrien soaked the information in, nodding his head. "Sure. I can't guarantee I'll be back, but it sounds like it won't suck."

"I promise that no sucking is involved. I know it's not going to replace what you had, and I won't get mad if you back out before tomorrow morning. Pinky swear." She held out her pinky for him to grab and giggled when he swung their hands between them.

"Mari, when did this turn into super personal stuff?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Probably when you stole the bench I was trying to yarnbomb."

"Damn. Sorry."

"Don't sweat it. What would our friendship be if we didn't have these moments?"

"Pretty boring. How about this: I'll take you home, we'll go to church with your dad tomorrow, and we'll swing by here to pick up the dress after that."

"Sounds like a plan." Marinette stood up and reached under the table to pet Plagg. "Bye, you fat lump. Yeah, you are. You're a sweet lump, but you're fat. Be good for Adrien. No, you never are. I know. _Au revoir, chaton._ " She stretched and started laughing to herself. _At least I'm wearing flats so I don't look so ridiculous in these pants._

Adrien's eyebrow shot up, but he didn't press the issue.

"I'm ready to go. I'm assuming you'll bring me anything I forgot tomorrow."

He walked out with her, locking his door. "Nope. I'm going to hold it hostage so you'll come back."

"Thanks. I mean, oh no, I have to hang out with an _actual model_ to get it back. How terrible." Mari climbed into the passenger seat through the Catmobile's window.

Adrien clicked his seatbelt and started the car. "Just for that, you'll have to come over twice to get it back."

"What a _terrible_ punishment. I guess I'll survive it if I have to."

* * *

Marinette groggily turned off her alarm and rolled out of bed. She could be late for hanging out with Alya, and even late for work—sometimes—but being late for church was a huge infringement. _Technically, I'm like four months late for church, but whatever._ She yawned, shuffling her way to feed Tikki. "Here you go, bug. Eat up."

Mari trudged through the rest of her pre-church routine, occasionally squinting at texts from Adrien. _'What's the dress code?' 'How do I get there?' 'What color are you wearing? You could match Adrien Freaking Agreste today!'_

She laughed at the last one and answered him. _'blue. sky blue, since I know you're picky.'_ Mari finished getting ready and sent a text to Tom telling her that she'd see him there and a text to Adrien to look for her when he got there—she'd be the one that looked like her.

Marinette found Tom with no trouble. He was a large man, of course, but he also sat in the same spot every single week and had since he was a teenager. That was how he and Sabine had met—a beautiful woman was sitting where he usually did, and she offered to take him to lunch to make up for it. Of course, he paid for them on the sly, and she insisted on trying again to pay him back. It never worked.

"How are you doing, little one?"

"Great, Papa." Mari hugged him and left her arm looped through his. "How are you?"

"Splendid. I have my favorite daughter by my side, she is well after her trip, and she's bringing a friend. Today should be a good day." He kissed her head and put his arm around her.

"I'm your _only_ daughter."

"All the more reason for you to be my favorite."

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter took me FOREVER to write, so I hope it's not too terrible. It's also coming at you a day early for reasons such as my schedule this week and maybe a hint of narcissism. Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks for all the support you've shown me so far! It really makes my day! Love you all! xoxo -wwot_


	16. The New Selfie

Adrien sat next to Marinette at her parents' table. He'd enjoyed the church service, much to his surprise. Maybe he _had_ been missing out on something by not going. Tom was very warm and accepting, and Sabine was just as happy to have him over for lunch.

"Wait, wait. I have a better one."

"Adrien, _no_."

"The baker asked if his customer wanted the bread in a box. He said to the baker, 'No, you can _baguette_!'" Adrien grinned while Tom howled with laughter. Marinette hid her face.

"I'll need to use that one, son!"

"Feel free! My puns are cheesy enough to be part of the public domain, so they're always _brie_ for personal use."

"Why did I do this to myself?" Mari buried her face in her arms and Sabine reached across the table and patted her head.

"We can survive this. We are strong, strong women."

" _Merci, Maman._ " Marinette sat back up and gave her a hopeful smile, but Adrien interrupted whatever they were about to say.

"Thank you for having me for lunch. Everything was wonderful." He smiled awkwardly, eyes quickly returning to where his hands were folding his napkin.

"You're very welcome. You can come any time."

Adrien looked back up and found Sabine's words to be genuine. "Thank you."

"Anything for Marinette's friends. Alya and Nino just had dinner with us last week, actually." Tom paused, remembering the conversations they'd shared.

"They didn't even tell me!"

Sabine laughed. "No? I guess we didn't, either. Oh well."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "I hate to eat and run, but I have my dress to pick up from Adrien's and a bunch of stuff to do for work today. I love you guys." She stood up and hugged her parents, giving them both kisses on the cheek.

Adrien stood awkwardly by until Sabine pulled him into a hug. "Thanks for going with my husband."

"Any time." He shook Tom's hand. "I'll find more baking puns for you!"

"That sounds like a sweet deal!" Tom grinned while Marinette dragged Adrien out of the door and scolded him.

They hopped into his car because Marinette had left hers near the church. "I'm glad you get along with my parents. They really like you."

"That…that means a lot to me."

Marinette smiled over at him. "They like most people, but you got a 'Marinette's friend,' so that really means something."

"Oh. So, uh, Ladybomb?"

"Oh, I should have some time this week after all to start planning for the next yarnbomb. Did you have ideas in mind?"

"Insert cartoon characters into a real situation, but I don't know beyond that. I think we should make our pieces interacting a little more than usual."

"Adrien, I like that. You're a genius."

"Took you long enough to realize it!" He winked and returned his eyes to the road. "What do you think we should do?"

"We have plenty of bridges. What if we did trolls?"

"Trolls could work. Do they have to be any specific kind of troll?"

"I don't know. I just did earth tones for the sloth, so I don't want to do that again right away. Could we make them yellow and blue?"

"Sure. I've been pretty red-heavy lately, so that should break me out of my slump."

"What are we going to do about Papillion?"

"What about him?"

"You know he's going to want to destroy it again."

"Let him try. We'll be just fine."

"I want to wait and catch him in the act."

Adrien cast a long glance to the woman beside him. "No."

"But Adrien, don't you think it's a little funny that he finds what we've done so fast? It's gone in less than a day anymore! Surely there's a reason for it."

"There probably is, but it's not for you to find out. Not by yourself."

"Then sit with me and wait for him next time!"

"No, Marinette. That's the worst idea in the world. We don't know who he is, what he does, anything about him. Or her."

She huffed. "Fine." But it _wasn't_ fine. Not by a long shot.

Her phone started ringing after they were quiet for a while, which was really odd for a Sunday afternoon.

"August, hi!"

"Hey you. I was wondering what you were up to today."

"I went to church earlier with my dad, had lunch with my parents. Uh, I left some stuff at Adrien's, so we're headed that way now so I can get home and get some work done before tomorrow."

"We?"

"Uh, Adrien and me. He came to church with us this morning."

Adrien parked the car and cut off the engine, feeling the awkward tension.

"Oh. When did you leave something at his place?"

"Last night. When you abandoned me with a stained dress and told me to figure it out. He came and got me and helped me get the stain out."

"I thought you said you were at Alya's."

"I never said where I was; you just assumed that." Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. This was too much.

"You didn't correct me, either."

"Actually, if you're gonna get technical, you told me to say 'Hi' to Alya. I said I would. I haven't talked to her yet, but I'll pass that along when I do. If you'll excuse me, I'm busy today. I'll talk to you when I have time for you to nitpick at me over getting my damn dress back."

August hung up before Marinette got the chance.

"Sorry you had to hear that."

"I'm sorry you had to say it. What was that about?"

"I don't know. Like, dude, check your facts before you start complaining at me." She scoffed and hoisted herself out of the car window. "Sorry. I just don't get it."

"You don't need to apologize to me." Adrien helped her down and unlocked the door for her, almost tripping over a meowing Plagg. "What do you want, cat?"

Marinette bent down to pick him up. "Hey, fatty." She kissed his head and gave him the appropriate scratches and deposited him on the couch. "Oh, did you want the clothes back?"

"What do you think I'm going to say?"

"You're gonna tell me to keep them. I was hoping you'd say that because they're stupidly comfortable. I slept in them last night."

"Now I _definitely_ don't want them back!" He grinned and handed the bag with her dress in it to her. "To your chariot, my lady?"

"Can we get a picture first? I want you to have a new one for your frame and one to go on my fridge."

"Absolutely. Do you want me to take it?"

"Sure. It'll probably be a better angle."

"Let's go outside. The lighting is better."

They posed in front of his door for a moment and huddled together to look at the pictures. "Oh, those look good. Send them all to me?"

"For a fee."

"I guess I can try to afford it." She plucked his phone from his hand and sent them all to herself. "I'll get them printed this week."

"I can get it poster-sized if you want."

"So can I. The only way I'll be really impressed is if you get it on some billboard somewhere." She winked and hopped back into his car. "Do you want me to get you a poster-sized version?"

"I would love a poster of the one and only Ladybug."

"I'll even sign it for you. How's that?"

"That sounds perfect, Maribug."

* * *

Marinette got the whole gang together for lunch a few days later.

Alya unloaded a stack of papers from a folder she kept in her bag. "Here's what I've found out about Papillion. He—"

"Or she," the others chorused.

"—or she! I was getting there! Anyway, he or she has been active for a few years now, but they haven't been bothering notable artists. At least, not ones that most of Paris knows about. Targets are generally graffiti artists, but there have been a few exceptions. Namely, Ladybug. Here's a timeline of events, pictures in this stack correlate chronologically—they _are_ numbered—and this is everything else I know. The best I can guess is that they have a grudge about something to do with graffiti or artists, but there have been no clues about an identity to this point. Adrien?"

"I talked to my paint guy. The color is called Shimmering Lavender, and he's only sold it to three people ever. All male, different man each time. That's all he was willing to say." Adrien shrugged and sipped on a smoothie.

"I told you it was a guy!"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Or they could be having someone else pick up the paint."

"And my guy is hardly the only one who sells paint in Paris."

"It is a man, and I'll prove it to you. I don't know how, but I will."

"So you're telling me that you have no idea who this person actually is, you're making conjecture about why they're destroying art, and you have no real leads except for what they've left online? Why are we even doing this, then?" Marinette stared at her plate, food untouched.

"We'll find him, Mari."

"How? You don't know anything about this person except that they have a penchant for being a jackass and an unhealthy love of purple! It's hardly fair to consider that maybe it's not worth it anymore, but it's really starting to feel that way. I just don't know how much longer I can go about doing this with my art being at risk. It's disappointing, it's disheartening, and I have better ways to spend my time if it's all going to get ruined anyway." She stood up and started walking away, wiping tears from her face.

"Nettie, it'll be okay." Nino caught her a few steps outside of the restaurant and pulled her into a hug. "It might take some time, but we'll find him."

Mari nodded. "I know if I quit, then he's winning, and I don't want that to happen, but it's just too much. I know we're not the only people he targets, but it's really frustrating. I'm just so tired of it all."

"I know. It's rough. You could always move to Germany and do it." Nino smiled and patted her back, letting her have some personal space again.

She snorted. "Yeah, I could get Adrien to move in with me. Probably the only way I could afford it."

"You're saying that like he'd make you pay for it."

"Like who would pay for what?" Alya offered Marinette a box. "Your leftovers."

"Thanks. Nino suggested that I move to Germany to get away from Papillion, and I said that Adrien should go with me so I could afford it."

"You mean so I'd pay for it." Adrien slung his arm around her shoulder and hugged her. "I would, of course. Unless you start making more than Adrien Freaking Agreste."

"Adrien, you have three different poses officially trademarked. I'd have to be the next Gabriel Agreste to even _dream_ of that happening. I barely make enough to cover all the yarn I get and still put something into savings as it is."

"I hear you, girl. I finally had to quit that pottery class because _someone_ over here has a hard time getting regular gigs." Alya flashed Nino an exasperated look, a smile hiding deep behind her eyes.

"I will pay for it when _I_ get paid. You knew what you were getting into." Nino smiled back at her. He was as faithful as he could be with payments, and Alya knew that bills were always the first things to be paid.

"Uh, I might actually be able to help with that."

"How?" Alya and Nino spoke in unison, barely noticing that the other had spoken. Marinette looked up in similar confusion.

"We're looking to hire someone for our fashion week after parties. Not just Paris fashion week, but that's probably the big one. Anyway, I could pull a few strings. It's not the most regular thing in the world, but it would be something to add to your calendar." Adrien shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just if you're interested."

"Dude, that would be great."

"Sweet. I'll make sure you get all the info." They bumped fists.

"When you're done with your romantic moment, some of us have a train to catch to work." Alya kissed Nino, hugged Mari, and waved to Adrien. "I'll catch you guys later."

"I have a shoot to go to, actually. Thanks for having lunch with me." Adrien waved to the two of them and went off to the Catmobile.

"And then there were two."

Nino raised his eyebrow at her.

"It's from a book. Before that, a poem. Anyway, what are we two going to do with our free afternoon?"

"Ultimate Mecha Strike? You can pick the version."

"You're daring. I'd love to kick your ass." Marinette grinned and walked with him to her own car.

* * *

 _A/N: I had to rewrite the ending of this chapter because it wasn't taking the story to a good place. I got about halfway through the next chapter before I scrapped the end of this one, so that means I have to start that one over…oh well. Worse things have happened to me. Speaking of worse things, I have a few things going on in my life, so updates are going to change to every second and fourth Wednesday of the month. If I could do more, I would, but I'm starting to cut it close, so it's going to be that way for a while. I really appreciate your continued support and all of your nice reviews! See you in two weeks! -wwot_

 _PS I crochet, but I can't knit. -wwot_


	17. The Fake Emergency?

Marinette sat with her legs across Nino's lap—it was the most comfortable way to play and win the original UMS, after all.

"Dammit, Mari! I knew I shouldn't have let you pick the version."

She laughed and patted his arm where it rested on her shin. "You offered, dearest Nino."

"Damn. I think that's a new record for straight wins."

"Really? I usually quit counting after twenty." Marinette winked, laughing softer.

Nino tossed his controller aside and drummed on her legs. "Dinner? We have strawberry ice cream."

"That sounds awfully sweet. Anything else?"

"Older strawberry ice cream?"

"Alya hasn't had time to go grocery shopping yet, obviously."

"Nope."

"Strawberry ice cream it is." Marinette swung her feet to the floor, following Nino into the kitchen. "Other than that grand ass-kicking, what else is new with you guys? I feel like I missed everything being in London."

"Alya had a pregnancy scare. She didn't want you to worry, so she fretted about it to me for two weeks." He closed the freezer and opened the lid on the ice cream.

"I thought she was on birth control so she could avoid that sort of thing."

"She quit about six months ago. She said it never fixed whatever it was supposed to and she was tired of giving it a shot." He shrugged, scooping more ice cream for Marinette. "She says she's been feeling a lot better without it. Minus the scare, of course."

"Of course. I can't say I blame her; I know she complained to me all the time. I'm a little disappointed because I'd love to be a godmother, but I know you guys can't afford a baby right now."

"That's why Alya was freaked out. She was totally okay with the baby and motherhood parts, just not the finances." Nino gave Mari her bowl, walking back to the couch.

"Makes sense. Alya will make a good mom. She already takes care of us. 'Mari, it's your lunch hour; make sure you eat.' 'I should text Nino and make sure he's eaten at least something healthy today.' 'Ice cream for dinner isn't real dinner!'" She laughed and spooned it into her mouth.

He talked around his ice cream. "She's been sending messages to Adrien to tell him to get to bed at a regular hour, too."

"See? She doesn't need a baby. She has us, and we're enough of a mess for her. If she had a baby, she'd have four kids, and that's too many for everything else she does." Marinette's phone _donged_. "Oh, that's August."

"Big Ben is his ringtone?"

"What? It was convenient. And funny. Adrien's is a cat. Oh, he wanted to get dinner. Well, too late." She snapped a picture of their bowls and sent it to August. "He'll get the picture."

Nino raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile growing on his face.

"No, shut up. If you tell Adrien, I'll kill you. Okay, not really, but I will be upset."

"If you say so."

They were interrupted by another _dong_. "Sorry. Oh, he's asking how I got Alya to approve. Ha, I didn't." Marinette sent the message and turned the screen off. "Anyway."

Nino opened his mouth to add to the conversation, but Mari's phone started ringing.

"August? What are you calling me for?"

"Why are you and Nino without Alya?"

"Because she was at work. I'm guessing that she's running a few errands now that her shift is over."

"How long have you been over there?"

She rolled her eyes to Nino, who could only offer a sympathetic expression. "We all went out to lunch, and Nino and I had a free afternoon, so we hung out. It's been a while since we had time to hang out like normal adults."

"Are you sure it's okay to be over there by yourself?"

"Yes, I am. Where's all this coming from?"

"I just want to make sure you're safe."

Marinette pinched her nose. "Nino is probably the safest person on the planet. I'm gonna let you go; my ice cream is melting."

"Okay. Love you."

"Um, yeah. Bye." Marinette hung up, eyes wide. "I swear he's paranoid about everything."

"What was that about?"

"Making sure I was safe or something. How bizarre. Like I wouldn't be safe with you, one of my childhood best friends."

"Stranger things have happened." Nino tilted his bowl to scoop the rest of the ice cream into his mouth. "You need to tell him to quit that before it becomes a problem."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna hurt his feelings."

"If his feelings get hurt by you asking him to stop something that's bothering you, there's a deeper issue at hand, Nettie."

Marinette nodded slowly, staring at her bowl. "I guess you're right. Adrien said something similar earlier this week."

"Then you should definitely talk to August about it. You owe it to yourself."

"I guess. I'll try talking to him tomorrow."

"Good."

Mari shrugged, finishing the last of her ice cream.

"Wanna know a secret?" Nino grinned at her over his glasses.

"Only always."

"I'm gonna propose to Alya."

Marinette grinned back and lightly smacked his knee. "Shut up! No way! When?"

"When I can afford a ring and everything it takes to be legally married."

"I call being one of the witnesses!"

"Consider it done. Also, you need to help me plan it because I have no idea what I'm doing."

She bounced a little in her seat. "We'll figure it out when she's not due back any minute. Oh, this is so exciting!"

* * *

Marinette gushed about Nino's news to August at dinner the next night. "Anyway, right after he told me, Alya walked in and just about had a fit that we'd only had ice cream. She fixed us 'real dinner' and scolded us the _entire_ time!" She laughed. "You can't tell her, obviously. It needs to be a secret, especially because I'm somehow in charge of helping him." Marinette rolled her eyes and ate another bite.

August bounced his thumb on his knee to diffuse his nerves. "Can I ask you something?"

"Depends on what kind of answer you want." Marinette winked. "Sure, go for it."

"I'd like it if you limited your time alone with Nino and Adrien."

She fumbled her fork and scrambled to keep it from clattering to the plate. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Politely, no. I'm not going to do that. They're my friends, and I'm not about to abandon them." She pursed her lips before tearing off a piece of bread and eating it.

"I don't think it's healthy for you."

Marinette stared him down for a moment before fully forming a response. "Nino literally asked me yesterday to help him plan his proposal to Alya. Do you think that's something we can do separately? Furthermore, I was mad at Adrien when I left for London, but he took care of my hamster anyway. If I can trust him with my hamster in an argument, then I'm pretty sure I can trust him with anything else. I can assure you that it's perfectly healthy to spend time with my friends." She turned back to her meal and stabbed at a stray piece of chicken to emphasize her point.

"It isn't that I don't trust you. It's that I don't trust _them_."

" _I_ trust them. Shouldn't that be enough for you?"

"But I know men, Marinette, and they can't be trusted."

She scoffed. "Caution is good, but these two have never given me any reason to truly be cautious. I'd have more reason to be cautious if I'd met them less than a month ago." Marinette sent him a pointed glance, knowing her meaning would get across.

August opened and closed his mouth a few times, eventually choosing to stay silent.

"My friendships are important to me, August. God help the man who tries to come between me and them." With that, Marinette grabbed her purse and stood up. "I need to use the restroom." She left no room for August to protest and marched off, dialing Alya's number in the process.

"Um, aren't you on a date?"

"He's an asshole, and I don't know what to do."

"Woah, woah. Slow down. Who did what now?"

"August told me to quit spending time alone with Nino and Adrien, so I told him, 'No,' and he wasn't happy with it." Marinette ran her fingers through her bangs, trying to rid herself of the tension in her body.

"You need to get out of there."

"I know. How?"

Alya was quiet for a moment; Marinette could almost picture her pacing around her kitchen when she heard something fall off of Alya's counter. "I got it! You need to hang up. I'll call you back in three minutes with some fake emergency—"

"You mean like whatever dish you just broke this time?"

"—and then you can leave. And, for the record, I didn't _break_ the glass. It's a smidge dented. It's metal."

"You're talking about a thermos, aren't you?"

"Just shut up and go back to your stupid boyfriend." Alya hung up first, mumbling all the while.

Marinette sat back down, leaving her napkin crumpled in her lap and her purse across her shoulder. "Sorry about that."

"That was quick."

"I guess." She pushed her food around, waiting for Alya's call of 'distress.'

Alya called right on time. "Mari! Ladyblog! Need help!"

"Woah, what's going on? What do you need help with?"

"Weird submission. I think it's Papillion. I need you to come look at it."

Marinette flashed an apologetic look to August. "Can it wait? I'm out to dinner…"

"No, sorry. I really need you to come over here and look at this. It has Chat Noir all freaked out." Something in Alya's tone made it sound like she wasn't lying through her teeth.

Mari's phone meowed in her ear. So it _was_ an actual emergency. "Damn, okay. I'll be right there. Just a second." She held it away from her face for a moment. "Alya's having an emergency with the Ladyblog, but apparently she needs me over there. I'm so sorry. Um, I'll pay you back later." She moved out of her chair, fumbling to push it in.

"Don't worry about paying me back. It was a date, remember?"

"Oh, right. Um, I'll text you?" Marinette waved, ignoring his declaration of love as she exited the restaurant.

Alya and Nino's was only a few blocks away, so Marinette had an easy time getting over there.

"Alya, it's me. What legitimate crisis happened in those three minutes?" Marinette tossed her purse to the floor and kicked her shoes off, plopping down beside her friend.

"This legitimate crisis." Alya showed her the offending pictures. "Papillion _knows_."

Each of the pictures showed a different poster of Adrien with black ears and a tail added; a metallic butterfly adorned the corner of every poster.

"And Adrien knows about this?"

"He does. He and Nino are on their way over. I think they were finalizing some of the work Adrien offered. It sounds like it's going to be a lot more than Adrien let on." Alya shifted so her feet were under her, pulling a blanket over her lap.

"Oh, Adrien's pretty good about that. I complained about not finding gold yarn one time, and he brought me a whole tub of it on our next project. I _still_ have some of it left. Anyway, Papillion is either just being an ass, or he knows that Adrien Agreste is also Chat Noir, notorious vandal somehow adored by all."

"You're a notorious vandal, too."

Mari waved her hand. "That's beside the point. This makes it sound like Papillion is only destroying my work because I'm associated with Adrien. Chat Noir, actually, but still."

"You're missing the obvious question. How does Papillion know? If he knows, of course."

"Well, we don't know." Marinette scooted closer to Alya to share the blanket with her, chilled by the air conditioning.

"Papillion has to be someone in Adrien's life, Mari."

"Well, gee, that narrows it down to only half of Paris."

Alya rolled her eyes. "Okay, someone _close_ to Adrien. Obviously not you or his cat."

"Honestly, I wouldn't put it past Plagg to do that if he were more than a cat. Okay, not destroying my stuff, too, but putting a wrench in Adrien's plans. He's a very odd cat."

"Um, if you say so. Anyway, the boys will be here soon, and we'll go over everything I can think of with Adrien then."

The door opened, Nino walking through first. "Hey, babe."

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Alya grinned at the boys before reading Adrien's expression.

He wordlessly sought out Marinette, who stood when she saw his face.

"Adrien?"

Adrien clung to Marinette, tucking his head as close to her neck as he could.

* * *

 _A/N: Coming at you early because I felt bad for springing the new update schedule on you last time! Unfortunately, it's likely to continue for a long while because of work, family and personal matters, and other reasons that are likely to arise. Anyway, thank you all SO MUCH for all the reviews! Please keep reviewing; it always makes my day, and it makes writing this thing so worth it. You're the best! xoxo -wwot_


	18. The Phone Calls

Marinette eventually coaxed Adrien into laying across the couch with his head in her lap. She stroked his hair, speaking softly. "We don't have to talk about this tonight. It's definitely freaky."

He nodded, barely registering how her fingers felt on his scalp. Oh, he would've killed for that mere months ago, but now it was wasted on a damn art destroyer.

Marinette stayed silent, watching Nino and Alya talk in hushed tones and make quick gestures at each other. She focused on twisting each strand of Adrien's hair and smoothing it back into place. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

Adrien frowned and turned to meet her eyes. "I chose it long before we worked together."

Mari brushed his hair from his face. "Still. I can't help thinking this is at least a little my fault."

"It's not. Either someone decided to be a jackass for no reason, or they know what Adrien does in his spare time. All that is to say that he has to be super careful and—"

Alya was interrupted by Adrien's phone. "It's Nathalie." He took a deep breath and answered it. " _Ouais?_ "

Marinette stroked his hair until he brushed her hand away and sat up, hiding his face in his palm.

"No, Nathalie. I had nothing to do with it. I don't know who does. Why does—no, Marinette has nothing to do with it! She's not my girlfriend, Nat. So what if a picture of her and Plagg is my background? She's my friend and one of the few people that Plagg actually likes. Yeah, well, if Plagg liked you, then maybe you'd end up on my background instead. She's—how is that even relevant? You're acting like it's impossible to hang new posters." Adrien brushed his hand through his hair and leaned his head back.

Alya busied herself with something for the Ladyblog, pretending not to listen. Nino drummed on his legs. Marinette patted Adrien's knee, leaving her hand when he grabbed it.

"Nat…of course I'm worried about it, Nat. Why wouldn't I be? Oh, hell no. I'm not making a statement. Yes, I'm sure it's not Mari. She was out with her boyfriend or working all day today." Adrien swore again and squeezed Mari's hand, hoping to ease some of the tension in his body. "No, we don't need to make any statements about anything. Whoever did this just wanted attention."

Mari turned Adrien's hand over and played with his fingers.

"Fine, I'll make a statement if it becomes a huge issue. It's not a huge issue right now, so I'm not making a damn statement, Nathalie! Of course my father wants it taken care of! He's gonna have to deal with it, honestly. Since my posters were the only ones vandalized, it's hardly an attack on the company. It's probably an attack on me. I wish I knew why, and I wish I knew who. I don't know either of those things, so my father needs to get over it."

Marinette peered at her buzzing phone, rolled her eyes, and answered it. "Yes, Carine?"

Alya and Nino exchanged a glance and hunkered down for the ride.

"Yes, I'm still in contact with the Agreste kid. How did you know?" Mari threw a glance to Adrien's hand, ignoring the color in her ears.

"Wonderful! Awesome that he wants to tackle this in the most difficult way possible! The answer is still no."

"Oh, right. The framed picture on my desk. No, I don't think that Adrien would be open to making a statement."

"That's my final answer, Nathalie. No statements unless someone comes forward or it turns into the scoop of the millennium. Damn, this isn't what I wanted to deal with."

"I'm pretty sure, Carine. I'm sitting next to him. He's on the phone with Gabriel's assistant, and he keeps insisting on no statements—no, I'm not on a first-name basis with Gabriel Agreste. I've never even met the man! No, I'm not dating Adrien! You know I have a thing for August. How is this relevant to anything? Carine, I'm not forcing him to make a statement. You know we can't do that."

"Wait, is Father making a statement on my behalf? Oh, hell no!"

"Besides, I think Gabriel is going to make one."

Adrien glared at Marinette, who shrugged and mouthed an apology.

"Yes, I'm still here, Nat. We're literally no closer to coming up with a solution."

"I'll let you know if I hear anything. Promise. One condition, though."

"The only person I'd want to talk to about it is sitting next to me, Nathalie."

"I get to write the article on it. He's my friend, and I want to make sure he doesn't get thrown under the bus and that it's sensitive to information he may or may not want to be made public. Deal?"

"If I make a statement to anyone, it's going to be to _Tendance._ I trust Marinette. And now I have to go. I'm sure we'll discuss this at a later date."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Carine."

They both hung up and tossed their phones aside.

"Son of a bitch."

Alya hardly looked up from her phone. "Language, Marinette."

Marinette stared daggers at Alya. "You hush. It's not every day that you're caught writing a potential article about yourself and your partner."

"See, this is why I stick to odd jobs. No drama except for Madame O'Connell's chickens."

"Shut up, Nino. Not helpful."

"Alya, be nice. We're all stressed about it. Sorry for dragging you guys into the mud with me." Adrien squeezed Mari's hand, keeping his grip on it firm. "If they force me to make a statement about it, I'll give you a call. We might as well profit out of this as much as we can." He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles absentmindedly.

Marinette fought the blush that crept up her neck, pretending to be interested in the lampshade to distract herself. _Yeah, because that's going to work so well._

"I should get going. I have a shoot in the morning. Alya, let me know how that mini article about tonight goes. Don't lie, but be persuasive."

"Will do. I'll send it to you when I'm done."

"Sweet. Nino, we'll finish the paperwork tomorrow."

"Cool, man. Take care."

"You too."

Marinette looked up to where Adrien was standing, still holding her hand. "Be safe, Adrien."

"I will." He squeezed her hand and let it go, waving to everybody as he left.

Alya finished her paragraph before she spoke up again. "Mari, if you don't date Adrien, I might. Scratch that, I can't, because he's so infatuated with you."

"Excuse me?"

Nino nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sometimes it's like he forgets that you're on his phone, and he lights up whenever he sees it. It's cute."

"He's probably just smiling at Plagg. He loves that dumb cat."

Alya glared at Marinette over her glasses. "You're the densest person I know sometimes, and I'm dating Nino."

"Hey! I'm not as dense as that cake you made last year." Nino winked at Alya while she sputtered.

"We're _not_ talking about that right now. What matters is that _Marinette_ breaks up with her stupid boyfriend and dates this guy that's actually being cool now."

"You weren't so quick to like him when he conveniently left out that he knew about my crocheting habits."

"And neither were you, but you forgave him. Besides, he apologized. He realized he made a dick move and has made efforts to not repeat them."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"'But' my ass, Mari."

Nino dared a grin before Alya begged him to shut up.

"My _point_ is that you need to get rid of August. You basically said as much tonight, and I'm hardly the first person to think it."

"Alright! Fine! I'll break up with him! But that does _not_ mean that I'm going to date Adrien."

* * *

Marinette and August sat on her couch the next night, idly chatting. She wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, fidgeting in her place.

"August?"

"Hm?"

She took a deep breath. "I…I need to talk to you."

He frowned. "What about?"

Marinette bit her lip for a second and blurted out the words. "I think we need to break up."

August sat a little straighter, his expression becoming guarded. "Why?"

"Because you want things that I'm not willing to give. I cannot just drop the friendships I have because you're a little uncomfortable with it. Hones—frankly, that you're uncomfortable with it worries me. It's disconcerting. I'm sorry, but I can't reconcile that with how I spend my time."

"If I'd known it was that important to you, I wouldn't have asked."

"That's not the point. The point is that you asked that without considering that I'm already friends with them. You knew that from how much I talk about them, if not me outright telling you."

"Marinette, it doesn't have to be like that. You can still hang with them, just—"

"No, August. Excuse me for interrupting, but no. You asked me to 'limit my time with them,' and that's not okay. I have _never_ seriously dated Nino, yet you're lumping him in with Adrien, whom I have kissed _one time_. Alya has no problems when Nino and I hang out, so you shouldn't, either. If you hadn't asked that, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now, but you did, and so we are, and I'm really sorry. I do like you, August, but that makes me so uncomfortable. I wish I could justify staying with you, but that expectation is out there, and I don't like it. And I'm sorry." Marinette dared to make eye contact, dared to see the hurt in his eyes—but there wasn't much. She hugged her arms to herself, frowning. "I'm sorry."

"I had no idea you felt that way about it."

She shrugged, staring at Tikki's cage.

"I love you, Marinette."

"I know that, but I'm not ready for that. Not one bit. Especially not now."

"I think I should go."

Marinette pressed her lips together while he gathered his wallet and shoes, not daring to agree—but certainly not disagreeing, either.

"It was nice knowing you, Marinette."

"Bye, August." She hardly got the words out before he slammed the door, making her jump at the noise.

Marinette held back her tears for all of twelve seconds. "This is stupid. I know it's for the best, and we weren't even together that long! But still!"

Tikki squeaked—a great comfort to Marinette, who knew that _someone_ was listening.

"What am I gonna do?" She sniffled and fingered the edge of an old afghan, toying with the fringe. "This sucks already."

Her phone buzzed, so she answered it. "Hey, Alya."

"Hey, girl!"

"How are you?"

"I'm doing alright. About to head out with Nino, but I wanted to check on my best friend. What's new with you?"

"I broke up with August."

"Oh. Babe, I'll be right over. I'll need to make a couple of pit stops first, but then I'll be over." Marinette heard Alya walking around her apartment and muttering to Nino, unable to quite make out the words. "Is your door unlocked?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Leave it that way. I'll be over in a little bit. Nino and I can have a date another night. Sit tight and get comfortable."

"Okay. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Mari. Oh, Nino wants—"

"Hey, Nettie."

"Hey, Nino." Marinette sniffled again.

"So, that sucks. I'm sorry. Alya will come over and fix it, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Nino."

"Call me if you two need anything. Alya's bugging me for her phone back. I'll see you sometime, okay?"

"Okay. See you."

Nino hung up, and Marinette curled up under her afghan to wait for Alya.

Alya burst in with a laundry basket full of things a little over an hour later. "Okay, I have your favorite movies, your favorite snacks—I stopped by your parents' to get the ones you _really_ like—and some new socks. I know they make you feel better."

"Thanks, Alya. What would I do without you?"

"Probably deal with breakups in a really, really unhealthy manner."

"You mean like eating everything super unhealthy?"

"Yes, exactly."

"You mean everything my parents make ever?"

"Yep. At least you're not alone."

"Touché. Touché."

* * *

 _A/N: If this were the right kind of fic, I would've jumped right to Marinette and Adrien making out after she said she wouldn't date him. Alas, this is not that kind of fic. Sorry to be such a disappointment. Also, your reviews are so nice! I really love going back and reading them. On top of that, THERE'S FAN ART, WOO! You can find it under (brigetmiget dot deviantart dotcom) and it's the painting that Chat does without Ladybug and it's terribly cute. Go support them! Love you all, thank you for your patience! xoxo -wwot_


	19. The Proposal Scheme

Marinette swiped blindly on her phone to turn the alarm off. Three snooze cycles were more than enough, especially with Alya drooling on her pillow—they had stayed up far too late the night before with their chocolate and rom-coms to cheer the mood.

Mari stretched and quietly gathered her clothes to change in the other room, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She sent a quick text to Adrien so he could coordinate.

' _wearing yellow and navy today, fyi'_

' _Funny, that's what I had picked out. You know what they say about great minds ;)'_

' _they think alike, and fools rarely differ?'_

She pulled her hair into a messy bun and teased it just so, grinning when she saw Adrien's response.

' _Does that make you a fool with me? Not that you're a fool; I'm certainly the fool here.'_

' _I guess it does. btw my dad sits in the same place every week in case you get there before I do'_

' _Good to know. See you soon!'_

Mari rolled her eyes when he followed up the text with a black cat and a ladybug. She wrote a quick note to Alya and left as quietly as possible.

* * *

Adrien somehow arrived before Marinette and Tom and plopped himself down in the correct row, busying himself with his phone. Nathalie had finally calmed down about him making a statement, so he'd dodged that bullet, but it was still stressful to read all the speculation going on about who Chat Noir truly was. He wasn't about to lie publicly about it, but Alya's article had helped matters die down somewhat. She was certainly persuasive and presented excellent points as to why he couldn't be Chat Noir—if he were being honest, he was almost convinced by her writing. "Busy life of a model" and "lack of a girlfriend" seemed like good excuses to him, even if—

"Adrien! Good to have you back, son!" Tom clapped Adrien on the shoulder, a gesture that felt distinctly…fatherly?

"It's good to be back. Mari told me she was coming, so she should be here soon."

"My Marinette? She might be my favorite daughter, but she also my _latest_ daughter. Sabine says that the only time she was on time in her life was when she was born." He laughed, going on to correct himself. "Not that she's always late, but she has her moments where she's…uh…"

"Rarely early?" Adrien grinned, finding it so easy to be comfortable with Tom.

"Yes! That's it! Rarely early!" Tom laughed and settled into his seat, leaving a space between them for said daughter.

"Um, excuse me. Tom, is that…Adrien Agreste?" The girl's voice dropped to a whisper, as though Adrien couldn't hear her from less than two meters away.

"Yes, Charlotte. He's friends with my Marinette, so she invited him. He was here last week, too. Adrien, this is Charlotte. Her father is one of my best friends, and I think she's a fan."

Charlotte leaned over Tom and extended a hand to Adrien. "It's nice to meet you. I won't fangirl in church, but we're happy to have you around."

"It's nice to meet you, Charlotte. I'll make a deal with you: if you can catch me before I drive off, you can fangirl all you want." Adrien winked at her, which made Tom laugh.

Charlotte stammered a thank you and ran off to her friends.

"How did she not see me last week?"

"She wasn't here. But quick, hide, your cover's been blown!"

"Very funny, Papa. I'm here before announcements, so you can't make fun of me." Marinette leaned over and kissed his cheek before scooting past him to sit between them.

"Where's my kiss?" Adrien fought to keep a straight face.

Marinette gave him a gentle punch to the arm. "Does that work?"

He rubbed arm in fake hurt. "You've wounded me deeply."

"I think you'll live." Marinette kissed her fingers and touched the spot she'd punched, turning to Tom.

"How's August doing? Your mother wants to invite him for dinner sometime."

"Oh. Um. W-we broke up last night, Papa." Mari pressed her lips together, nodding slowly.

Tom wasted no time in putting his arm around her and scooting her close. "I'm sorry to hear that, bug. I know you liked him."

"Thanks, Papa. I know it's for the best."

Adrien brushed his fingers against hers, hoping to offer some comfort. "Sorry, Mari."

"I'll live, I guess. It just sucks." She hooked her finger around his, grateful for the contact.

They quieted down for announcements, nobody moving from their position until they stood up to start worship, each thumbing through a hymnal.

Marinette snickered when Adrien fumbled over the words. He shoved her with his hip and pretended like nothing happened when she glared at him.

Tom raised an eyebrow, hardly glancing at the hymn book to sing along. Maybe these kids weren't the best-behaved in church, but it still made him smile to see them enjoying themselves. Even if Marinette did retaliate by digging her fingers into Adrien's side, even if Adrien swore softly to himself while he pushed her hand away. They adjusted well when someone showed up late and they had to share their personal space when they sat back down, legs comfortably touching. Yep, the kids were cute together.

About a third of the way through the sermon, Marinette laid her hand on Adrien's knee. He patted her hand and curled his fingers around hers, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb against her hand. She tightened her grasp, and they sat like that for the rest of the sermon. They barely noticed when they had to let go later, circling up with Tom to discuss their lunch plans.

"Did Maman make lunch, or are we all going out?" She brushed her fingers against Adrien's, taking his hand when he let her.

"If you kids want to come over, she'll be making lunch."

"Did she make it out of the French fridge or the Chinese fridge?"

Adrien turned toward her, knitting his brow. "Chinese fridge?"

"They have two refrigerators. One's for French food, one's for Chinese food. How did you not notice?"

"They're bakers! Having two fridges makes sense!"

"I always thought it was a pretty _cool_ idea." Nothing could keep the grin from Tom's face.

"Papa! We are in _church_!"

Adrien threw his head back and laughed. "No need to be so _frosty_ , Marinette."

"Yeah, bug, _chill_ out." Tom winked at the two of them.

Marinette shook her head. "You two disgust me."

"So rude, Mari. That wasn't very _ice_ , was it?"

She immediately dropped Adrien's hand. "I will be in the car when you two decide to find something better to do with your time." She dug her keys out and made her way to her car. Adrien could ride with her if he really wanted, though he knew the way to her parents' house.

She settled into the car and leaned on the steering wheel, starting to cry. As much as the movie marathon with Alya had helped, it wasn't nearly enough. She cried harder because she'd been distracted through most of church. August wasn't worth the tears, but she needed to grieve. Grief had never felt so bitter, not when someone climbed into the seat next to her, not when they unbuckled her seatbelt and held her close, not when they let her cry it out. Marinette sniffled and apologized to Adrien, wiping her tears on her shoulder.

"Is it about August?"

Mari nodded, reaching for a tissue in her glove compartment. "Sorry. He's been on my mind all morning."

"He's an ass. Forget about him." Adrien offered his hand for the used tissue, drawing his hand back when she tucked it under her leg.

"I'm trying. I know it's stupid." She started the car, desperate to avoid the conversation.

"No judgment here, Maribug. We'll do something fun later this week."

She nodded, pulling out of her spot and driving toward her parents'.

"We're eating out of the Chinese fridge, by the way."

"Yes!"

* * *

Nino stopped by Marinette's work the next day. He set a cup of soup on her desk and asked, "How're you holding up?"

"I'm holding. Is this what I think it is?" She popped the lid off and smelled it, a smile growing on her face. "It is. Pizza soup! Thank you."

"Alya made it, of course. She knows how you are with breakups. I didn't have anything going on this afternoon, so I thought I'd bring it by." He hugged her tightly for a moment and rubbed her back. "So, that all sucks."

"It does, but I'm starting to feel better. Maman always told me I was too sensitive too fast, and now I'm starting to see what she means."

"Just now?" He raised an eyebrow, leaning against her desk.

She softly backhanded his arm. "You knew what I meant, Lahiffe."

Nino laughed, rubbing his arm like it had actually hurt. "When did you get to be so mean?"

"Breakups do things to girls. Anyway, you need to tell me your plan for proposing to Alya over lunch." Marinette put the soup in the fridge under her desk and collected her purse. "That place around the corner?"

"Which one?"

"The one with the name I can't remember."

"It's not that hard, Mari."

"Portuguese is not my forte." Marinette ducked her head into Carine's office. "Hey, I'm leaving for lunch. Might be a little long." She gestured to Nino.

Carine gave her a thumbs-up. "Sounds good. Just let me know when you get back."

"Will do." Mari walked down the stairs with Nino and paused for a moment to feel the sun on her face.

"Come on." Nino dragged her from her position and into the shady part of the sidewalk. "So, I was thinking of taking her on an anniversary dinner and proposing then."

"That's gonna take too long. That's not for another seven months."

"You're assuming I can afford it before then."

Marinette pressed her lips together. "With your current jobs not including the stuff for _Agreste_ , sure, but what about when they pay you? And what about when you start getting more jobs from that exposure?"

Nino contemplated that while he opened the door for her. "That won't be immediate."

"Okay, she'll be expecting it during an anniversary dinner. What about on New Years Eve?"

"That could work. Alright, yeah, that could work."

Marinette sat down across from him and pushed her menu aside. "It still gives you plenty of time to come up with a good everything and get a ring. And, before you ask, of course I know Alya's ring size. I've been with her plenty of times to buy jewelry. And we shared jewelry when we spent that summer in Spain; we have all the same finger sizes." She wiggled her fingers at Nino to emphasize her point.

Nino bit the inside of his cheek and glanced around before dramatically dropping to one knee and taking her hand. "Marinette?"

"Yes, dear Nino?"

"Will you be my fit model?"

"I thought you'd never ask!"

He slid back into his chair while they laughed. "So, New Years Eve."

"I can help you plan the party. Oh, or I can just get Alya to plan the party! Pfft, like that's gonna be hard. She actually _likes_ party-planning."

"Huh. I hadn't considered that. That's actually a really good idea."

"I'm full of them. Anyway, you about ready? The server's on their way over here."

* * *

Marinette got home that night and pulled out her troll. From all the stress-crocheting she'd been doing, it was nearly done with the basic design. "What do you think, Tikki?" She held it up for the sleeping hamster. "Glad you like it. Just need a few more touches on it" She yawned and tugged the hook out from where it had gotten tangled with the rest of the work. Mari hummed while she crocheted, relaxing into her couch while she did so.

A knock at the door startled her out of her trance, but the door was open before she could even get up to answer it herself.

Alya walked in, barely greeting her. "Okay, I know you just had a breakup, but this is important. I think I'm gonna propose to Nino."

* * *

 _A/N: I'm so sorry this is so late. We didn't have internet for a few weeks, I've had a stressful time with some work issues…anyway, your reviews are honestly so kind. This chapter took a while between everything I'm doing anymore, so I hope you enjoy it just as much. Next chapter will hopefully have a little more plot and a bit less filler, but you can't always get what you want. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me! Love you all xoxo -wwot_


	20. The Anime Marathon

The evening had been long for Adrien; he was browsing for more information about Papillion that he hadn't already uncovered, and the endeavor was going poorly despite having cookies in the oven.

The facts were that Papillion clearly had to be a good painter, they were likely close to him, and they had to have something against him…or know somebody else who fit those criteria. The list remained unfortunately large because of that last option—how was he to know who other people knew? He sighed; that was going to be part of running Gabriel's company someday if he didn't leave it to someone else. Adrien rubbed his forehead and thought back to the last father-son dinner they'd had.

Adrien had cooked dinner and invited Gabriel over. Gabriel complimented the food in a rare turn of events, thankful that it was at least edible. (Adrien noted to himself that he'd since improved at cooking, especially breakfast foods.)

"Are you doing anything to contribute to the community?" Gabriel pushed the last few bites around his plate; enough was certainly enough.

"I'm still doing street art."

"You mean graffiti."

Adrien stared at his father for a moment before dropping his gaze back to his plate. "Yes, if that's what you want to call it. Graffiti. It keeps me out of trouble and people enjoy it."

"You can't go around telling people that you intentionally vandalize our city. People don't take kindly to that."

"People in _your_ age bracket. People my age either don't care or like the idea."

"That isn't how a businessman acts, Adrien."

"I thought a businessman sought to understand the people he makes products for. Street artists of all kinds want clothing that's breathable and comfortable. Sometimes they need to get into weird positions to do their art effectively, so flexibility is also key."

"It's a shame that we don't make clothes for street artists, then."

"We always could. There's nothing wrong with getting into a new niche, Father."

"You can make that decision if you ever run this company."

 _If._ Two short letters, one huge meaning. _If_ Adrien ever ran the company. After that comment, he wasn't so sure that he really wanted to.

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone. Marinette's smiling face showed up on his screen, so he swiped to answer it. "Hey."

"Adrien! Oh my gosh, you wouldn't believe what I found out. So, Nino wants to propose to Alya, but he wants to be able to afford stuff, so he's waiting until New Year's Eve or something. Anyway, on Alya's front, _she_ wants to propose to _him_ , and now I have to help them both make plans to do it, and I have no idea how to juggle them. Nino asked me first, so I feel like I should convince Alya to wait, but there's always that possibility that she won't. Ugh."

"Sounds like a pickle."

Mari paused. "What's wrong, Adrien?"

He bit his lip. Surely he hadn't given it away _that_ easily.

"Adrien?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I was doing more research about Papillion, and then I started thinking about my father, and then some other stuff…"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I must sound super insensitive calling you about Alya and Nino."

"Nah, you had no idea. Hey, do you work tomorrow?"

"I…no, actually. I work Saturday instead unless I work late the rest of this week. Why?"

"Do you want me to bring over anime and cookies?"

"Will Plagg be okay with being left alone?"

"Want me to bring him?" Adrien sat up, praying his voice didn't seem too excited.

"Sure. If you can handle bringing him. I'm sure Tikki would love to see him. Wouldn't you, little bug? Huh?" Marinette's cutesy voice made him smile.

"Cool. I'll be over in a little bit."

She coughed and dropped back into her normal octave. "Sounds good. I'll hide my crocheting stuff so Plagg doesn't get into it."

"Alright. Love you. I mean—dammit. I'm sorry. I forgot August did that."

"No, it's okay. You didn't mean anything by it."

"Okay. If you're sure. I don't want to be a total dick about it. Or any dick at all, actually." He ran his fingers through his hair to calm the tension he felt.

"Adrien, I forgive you. I love you, too."

"I—thank you. I'll be over soon."

"See you then." She hung up, and Adrien glanced over at the sleeping Plagg. He didn't want to bother him, so he opened his DVD cabinet and browsed through for something he thought Marinette would like. He picked one out, hopeful that they could finish the first season that night.

Plagg was still asleep by the time he got the cookies and left, so Adrien sent a text to Marinette and told her to leave her crocheting things out and drove over.

He knocked on the door when he arrived, not hesitating to walk through when Mari called that it was open.

"I have anime and cookies, as promised."

"But no Plagg."

"No Plagg. He was sleeping."

"You said that. How does this look?" She held up her troll; it was mostly finished, minus a few details.

"I think it looks great. You know, you need to add a head, but it looks great otherwise."

"Thanks. What anime did you bring?"

He held up the DVD case. "Star Blazers: Quest for Iscandar."

"Excuse me? What's it about?"

"Saving earth and space travel. And get this: most of the girls are named after spacey things." He grinned at her, placing the container of cookies on her coffee table.

"Oh my gosh. Seriously?"

"It's from the seventies."

"Ah. That explains everything. What cookies did you bring me?" Marinette looked in the tub and grinned. "Snickerdoodle. Bless you." She grabbed one and took a large bite out of one. "These are great! Where did you get them?"

Adrien pretended to ignore her while he walked by to put the DVD in. "Made 'em." He flashed another grin at her, thrilled that she loved them.

"Shut up! These are almost as good as my dad's!"

"Why do you think I'm friends with you? I'm trying to get in good with your father and learn his baking ways. I'm gonna save enough money to buy out your parents' bakery and surpass them and rule both the fashion world and the pastry world here in our fine city of Paris." He closed the DVD tray and grabbed the remote, flopping onto the couch when he was close enough.

"As long as you leave them enough money to retire comfortably, maybe I'll forgive you." She scooted close to Adrien and picked up her crocheting again. "Am I gonna like this anime?"

"Despite some weird fan service towards the beginning, it's one of my favorites."

"Then blaze those stars! Let Iscandar quest!"

"Iscandar is a place. It's not the one doing the questing. You know what, just shut up and watch it."

* * *

Marinette didn't notice when Adrien fell asleep. She was too busy watching the show, relaxing against Adrien all the while. She didn't notice when _she_ fell asleep either, waking briefly when he stirred under her once or twice in the night. She finally awoke to the sun streaming in through the window and Adrien's gentle snoring. Her crocheting had fallen to the floor, but the cookies were still balanced on the back of the couch. Mari sat up and stretched, jumping when Adrien shifted.

"Mm. Mari?"

"Hey, Adrien."

He rubbed his face to help him wake. "I'd apologize, but I think you fell asleep, too."

"No, it's fine. You were comfortable."

"Thanks. It's all the working out I don't do."

Marinette poked a spot on his shirt. "Someone drooled on you."

"Someone has a line of drool on her face." Adrien traced said line with his finger..

"Hm. Whoops." She stretched again, yawning. "Did you at least sleep okay?"

"I did. How far did you make it?"

"I fell asleep somewhere around when they faced the octopus storm, I think."

"Oh, that's a good part. We'll have to finish the rest sometime." Adrien stretched to work the kinks out of his back from his awkward sleeping position. "Sorry that I fell asleep so early on you. All this stress has been making me really tired."

Marinette frowned. "You never told me what was bothering you last night. Not really, anyway."

He shook his head. "I was looking for information that may not exist on the internet. If Papillion knows I'm Chat Noir, then the list of suspects is still huge. It might be a friend of a friend, or the chain could be even longer. It could be anyone in Paris, honestly. That's the gist of it, I guess."

"Oh. I'm sorry. That would be stressful."

"It is. Nathalie's off my back about it, but she keeps forwarding messages from my father. He's still upset or something and doesn't understand why I'd like to just drop it." Adrien yawned and popped his neck. "But such is life."

Marinette pressed her lips into a line, patted his knee, and got up. "Do you want coffee? Poptarts? Anything?"

"Coffee sounds great. Oh, unless you have black tea. I hear that kind of caffeine is better for you."

"That's what Maman used to tell me. She's probably right; she has so many books on tea. Like, we have entire shelves, not just of tea, but _books_ on tea. Recipes, useful information, all that kind of stuff. I'm almost convinced that she loves tea more than she loves Papa." Mari set the kettle on the stove and turned it on, getting out her tea things. "I love tea, too, but sometimes it takes coffee to do the job, you know?"

Adrien nodded, wandering into her kitchen. "Is that what all those bookshelves were for? At your parents' house, I mean."

"Yeah, it was. Maman loves tea, and Papa is happy to oblige her. He keeps track of what she does and doesn't have, and it's usually her birthday gift, sometimes anniversary or the like."

"That's sweet. Father usually got Maman jewelry. He has excellent taste, of course, but sometimes I wonder if she wanted something more personal." He shrugged. "At least I always got to make her birthday cards."

"That's sweet. I'm sure she loved getting them."

"I think so. She kept them in a scrapbook. I have it somewhere at my place. No, you may _not_ look at it. Nobody needs to see little Adrien's chicken scratch."

Marinette giggled. "I'm sure it's fine."

"It's most certainly _not_ fine. I'll have you know that my tutors consistently asked if I'd let the bird my maman had as a pet do my work instead of me. I got better eventually, but it took a long time to get there. My mama made me get started with calligraphy so I could learn it better."

"You're a painter _and_ a calligraphist? How are you still single?"

"Nobody has an appreciation for the arts anymore." He gave a dramatic sigh, jumping when the kettle started to whistle.

Mari laughed and removed the water from the stovetop. She poured it into two cups and left it to cool as she turned the stove off. "You don't want to scald your tea. Maman says that's bad for it and for you. What do you do with your tea? Milk, sugar? Honey?"

"My Canadian relatives have ruined me. Sugar and honey, please."

"That's fair. Honey adds a good flavor to it if you're in the mood." She added the sugar and honey to Adrien's cup and put the tea bags into both cups.

"Nothing for you?"

"I like my tea straight most days. Habit I got from Maman."

"That's fair. What's something you got from your father?"

Marinette paused for a moment, setting the timer for her tea while she did. "Huh. Oh, I know! How I arrange my legs when I sit. What about you?"

"Maman always loved having pets, so I guess that's why I have Plagg. Father…" Adrien trailed off, thinking. "He likes things orderly. I think that's what I got from him." He crossed his arms, perturbed by something.

Marinette laid a hand on his arm. "Get your tea. We'll finish Iscandar and see if the Yamato can make it back to Earth. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

 _A/N: So, not plotty...I tried. At least these two are cute together. The next chapter has to have plot, so that will be there. And your patience and your reviews are keeping me going, for real…I don't know what I'd do without you guys. Thank you for your support, thank you for your reviews. Now let's see where the next part takes us! xoxo -wwot_


	21. The Text Message

Ladybug's head whipped around to where Chat Noir was standing. "Chat, what the hell?"

"What?"

"You're _whistling_. You're not even doing anything!"

"I'm watching you work, LB. Calm down."

"Can you at least watch quietly if you're not gonna paint?"

"Since you asked so nicely, sure." Chat leaned back on the bench he'd sat down on, draping an arm over the back. He wasn't in the mood to paint, but Marinette had insisted that they get her troll out, which led them to this little place—safe under a bridge.

"How does it look?"

"If I close one eye and cover the other, it's awesome."

Ladybug huffed. "Chat! Be serious!"

"It looks great, Lady. You look beautiful."

" _I_ look beautiful?"

"I mean. Uh. Well, you do, of course, but, uh. I meant to say that the trolls look beautiful. Yes, the trolls. Definitely the trolls that look beautiful, not you. Not! No, not _not_ you. I'm gonna shut up now."

She sighed. "The trolls are supposed to look ugly."

"They do! They look beautifully ugly!"

"Ugh!" She slid down against the wall and plopped onto the ground. "Why is this my life right now?"

"Hey, hey." Chat sat next to her and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Ladybug leaned into his side. "You didn't. I guess I'm still upset about August because that's why I stress-crocheted this so fast, and now putting it up is like it's over for real or whatever. It only took me a week and a half."

Chat pressed a kiss to her temple and rubbed her shoulder. "I get it. You liked him and he was a jerk, and now the last vestiges of your relationship are going out the window."

"Yeah. Maybe seeing it cut to pieces will be therapeutic. Like a big 'screw you' to the jerk."

"I like that idea, snugglebug."

She smiled up at him. "Come on. Let's go before I start crying." She pushed herself to her feet and gave Chat a hand up. "It might be a little late for coffee, but you can hang out at my house for tea if you want. I'm not the expert my mother is, but I do make a good brew."

"You've proved as much to me, for which I'm eternally grateful. I might make you move in with me and pay you to make me tea." He took her hand as they walked to her car.

"Getting paid to live with an actual model? Sounds like a good plan. I'll put in my resignation at _Tendance_ in the morning and make moving arrangements as soon as possible. Will you pay to get me out of the rest of my lease?"

"For you? Anything."

* * *

Marinette flopped onto her couch a few days later, opting to scroll through Tumblr instead of starting on her laundry or anything else important, surprised to find little from Alya.

"That's odd. Shouldn't there be something else by now?" Mari called her despite thinking she was at work.

"What do you need? I'm a bit, er, busy." Rustling was heard in the background.

"Oh, sorry. I'll make it quick. You haven't done anything else about my troll, and I wanted to know why."

"Oh! That's because it's still intact."

Marinette nearly dropped her phone. "Excuse me?"

Alya shifted. "You heard me. Now I'm _busy_ with _Nino_ , so I'm gonna let you go. I'll call you back later."

"I would tell you to have fun, but it sounds like you're already working on that." She laughed, sure it would irritate Alya.

"Good _bye_ , Marinette." Alya hung up the phone, leaving Mari to wonder why her art wasn't yet torn to shreds.

"Something weird is happening, Tikki."

Tikki kept sleeping; she'd been doing that more lately, Marinette noticed. "Ah, she probably misses Plagg. Huh, wonder if Adrien knows about this." She dialed his number, disappointed to get his voicemail.

"Bonjour! You've reached Adrien Agreste. If you're trying to hire me, please contact Nathalie Sancoeur or Pierre Passereau. Otherwise, leave me a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Merci!" The line beeped.

"Hey, Adrien. It's me. I just had a question and—oh, you're calling me back. Never mind." She switched the line over. "Hey. You have a voicemail from me, I think."

"I'll worry about it later. I'm at a shoot. What's up?"

"My troll is still whole."

"Oh. Weird. I don't know what to tell you about that."

"Yeah, I didn't figure so. It'll be okay. I'll let you get back to your shoot."

"Have you talked to Alya about it?"

Marinette sighed. "That's how I found out. She's busy, so I called you."

"What about Nino?"

"He's busy with Alya."

"Oh. _Oh._ Yeah, I'll be right there. Maribug, I have to go, but I'll call you back later, okay?"

"Okay. Sorry to bother you."

"Don't worry about it. Bye." Adrien hung up, and Marinette dropped her phone to her couch with a dramatic sigh. "This is hardly fair. I'm the only one available to deal with it, and I have fewer answers than they do." She flopped over for a minute, springing up when she had an idea.

"I'll see you later, Tikki."

She was silent.

Marinette drove over to her parents' house, which was still on top of the bakery. They were just closing for the day when Mari arrived. She called out, "It's me," as she walked through the door.

"Hi, sweetheart. Your father is spending time with a friend today."

"That's fine. I just needed some advice, but it can wait until we finish cleaning." Mari grabbed a broom and got started on the sweeping.

"We can multitask. Tell me about your troubles."

Marinette laid out the whole story for Sabine, including everything she could about Papillion and the yarnbombing situation. Little of it was a surprise for her mother.

"And that's everything?"

"I think so. It just feels like a lot to deal with, you know?"

"I understand. How can you keep going when someone is out to destroy the thing you've made? But you must, which you're already doing. Why bother coming to me?" Sabine scrubbed at a particularly tough spot on the counter, all the rest of her attention focused on her daughter.

"Because I'm pretty sure the target is _Adrien_ , not me. This last one that I did on my own hasn't been taken down or anything, and it still looks as good as new. Better, actually; the rain the other day made the colors run just how I wanted." Mari swept the last crumbs into a dustpan.

"I've seen pictures! It looks great. I'm very proud of you. But what does that have to do with Adrien?"

"Surely you heard about the poster fiasco last week."

"Oh. Hm."

"Yeah. I'm trying to be supportive of him, but I also don't want to keep doing this without him, but I also _also_ think that maybe he should keep a low profile for a while." Marinette pushed the dustpan into the trashcan, tapping it to get all the crumbs.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, or else I wouldn't have started it."

"You did it without him at the beginning, remember?"

"Yes, but now it would feel wrong if I did. We didn't start as partners, but that doesn't matter at this point. We're viewed as a unit now, and I feel like we have to act accordingly."

"Adrien would understand if you were to go without him."

"I _know_ that, Maman, but it feels so _wrong_ to not have him by my side."

"Then keep him there."

"You're not helping, Maman."

"No? Well, you're helping me. Look, we're almost done."

Marinette looked around the bakery, almost surprised. "Yeah, I guess we are."

"I think you'll figure it out, my love. Answers are often closer than you think. Besides, when people like you and Adrien get together, miraculous things can happen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sabine laughed. "It means that you two create beautiful things together. You both have that creative spark in you, and it's the same spark. I've never been able to figure out if it's God-given or innate for you, but it's a lovely thing to watch one like you blossom. If you put two of those blossoms together, it multiplies into a bouquet of wonder. I'm saying that whatever you and Adrien do, do it together, and you won't be disappointed."

"We're just friends, Maman."

"Friends can still do most everything together, Marinette. Adrien's father isn't married to any of his business partners, many of which were his friends when he was younger. Now, there's some cheesecake left from today, and I don't intend for it to make it through the night. Help me with it?"

Mari grinned. "Always, Maman."

* * *

"No, no, you look ridiculous!" Marinette giggled as Adrien licked another sugar packet and stuck it to his face.

"What, this isn't the way to attract fine young women?"

"Depends on the fine young woman." Mari shrugged a shoulder and grabbed a sugar packet for herself. She licked it and pressed it to her forehead. "How do I look?"

"As sweet as ever." Adrien grinned, causing some of the packets to fall.

She rolled her eyes, catching the packet as it fell.

"Don't look now, but I think there's a paparazzo outside that window." Adrien nodded in their direction and removed the packets from his face. "Can I convince you to take these? I feel weird about leaving them here."

Marinette held her purse out. "We should leave a nice tip for being slightly obnoxious."

"Gee, Maribug, I don't think I can afford that."

She snickered. "Yeah, it's doubtful. What's the paparazzo doing here, anyway? They haven't bothered you in a while."

"Probably because it looks like I'm on a date with a girl, and we match." Adrien shrugged. "Hell if I know the real reasons."

"In that case, want to stage a breakup scene?"

He pondered it for a second. "Nah. I'll just go out by myself so you can escape. No need to drag you into it."

"If you're sure. I don't mind being a spectacle just this once."

"No, but thanks. I appreciate the offer." He got his wallet out and left plenty of cash on the table. "I'll take them a few blocks down so you can fetch Nellie and meet me back at my place."

"Surely you're not walking that far!"

"I'm not. What good is a driver if I never use him?" Adrien pulled his phone out and texted his driver. "There. Done. Now we wait."

"At least you look cute today." Marinette winked, a look of amusement growing on her face.

"Excuse me? _Today_? I look cute _every_ day, thank you very much." Adrien flipped his hair and posed for a brief moment, earning another laugh when his phone chimed. "And that would be Garrett. He's in the area, so I'm gonna go ahead and leave." He stood and patted Marinette's shoulder. "See you back at my house."

"See you. Wait, Garrett?"

"Yeah, the Gorilla's on vacation with his nephews or something." He shrugged. "Ciao." Adrien left and flashed a smile to the paparazzo, intentionally taking them in the opposite direction from Marinette's car.

Marinette got up when he was out of sight and drove over to his place to wait for him.

Garrett pulled up not much longer, and Adrien untangled himself from the car and let Marinette in.

"Oh, hey, I have something for you."

"Yeah?"

"We've been hanging out way too much for this to not be practical. Here." Adrien handed her a small box. "Open it. It's not a ring."

"And here I was worried. Oh, Adrien, you didn't have to do that." Mari took the ladybug-spotted key out of the box. "I would do the same, but my landlord only allows a certain number, and Alya and Maman both have one."

"I understand. Don't worry about it, okay? It's also kinda so you can bring Tikki over to play with Plagg. If you want to. You know."

Marinette put the key between hers and Alya's, smiling at him. "I'd love to bring Tikki over."

Plagg wandered over and meowed at them.

Adrien sighed. "Okay, okay. We'll feed you. Needy cat."

She giggled. "I can feed him. Come on, little monster."

Plagg meowed and plodded after her, loving the attention.

"Maribug?"

"Hm?"

"Can I tell you something?"

She closed the cupboard and scratched Plagg's ear. "Yeah."

"I—we—um." He took a breath and stared at his cat. "I still love you." He dared to look at her eyes, blown wide in surprise.

"Oh. I, ah, er..."

"I know you probably never will, but I felt like you should know that. I guess."

"I-is that what the..."

"No, that's not what the key's about. Anyway, I know you might never, but I wanted to be open with you, and—"

"Adrien. I don't know. Yes, I could love you. I just don't know right now."

"Oh."

"Just...don't give up on me, okay?" Marinette looked down at Plagg, who was headbutting her leg. "Thanks, Plagg."

"Mari?"

"Yeah?"

"I won't."

She looked up, and he was smiling through his fear. "Okay."

* * *

Marinette was lounging at home the next week when she got a text from August.

' _Can't wait for you to do everything on my birthday that you did when I got back from London! I'll bring the handcuffs this time. ;)'_

"But we didn't do anything when we got back from London!" Marinette let the shock wash over her and cried, trying to make sense of it. She stopped in the middle of a sob when it hit her: "Steph."

She sank to the floor and cried harder, reaching for her phone. _No, Alya's on a date with Nino, and Maman and Papa are catering for that wedding. Adrien. Adrien's home, and I have a key if he's not._

She grabbed her phone and keys, pulling herself off of the floor. Mari called Adrien on her way out, but both numbers went straight to voicemail.

Marinette parked and knocked on Adrien's door. "Chaton? It's me…please answer it." She knocked and was about to get her key out when he opened the door.

"Maribug?"

"Your phone's dead. Can I come in?"

He moved aside wordlessly, pulling his shirt on the rest of the way.

Mari curled up on his couch. "Thanks."

"What happened?"

"August texted me. Here, read it." She scrolled to the appropriate message and handed him her phone, saying the words quietly to herself. "'Can't wait for you to do everything on my birthday that you did when I got back from London! I'll bring the handcuffs this time.' I didn't do _anything_ when we got back from London, especially not with handcuffs for a guy I'd just met! I came here because that bitch spilled dip on my dress, and it turns out that she banged my boyfriend. It shouldn't matter. I broke up with him a month ago anyway, but still." Marinette hugged her knees closer. "Still."

"That's pretty bad. I'm sorry." He reached out and held her hand, drawing her fingers up to kiss them.

Marinette shyly looked away from Adrien's gaze, silent for a long few minutes. "Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still love me? I mean, you told me that last week, and I was scared to say it back, and I don't know why, so it feels like a valid question and—"

"Of course I do. Don't let any of the stupidity that's going on make you question that." He patted her knee and smiled at her.

"Adrien?"

"What question do you have this time, fair maiden?"

She was blushing too much to roll her eyes. "May I kiss you?"

Adrien kissed her instead, softly cupping her face to his. Marinette kissed him back, settling into his lap. She relished the way his hands found their way up her legs like they had the first time and gasped when he teased her sides.

He slid his hands up her spine, loving the way she pressed into him and grasped at his hair.

She was much more focused than the first time they kissed—hungry, desperate. He wondered if she'd unnecessarily apologize for anything later, but that didn't matter to him. Now was now.

They continued like that for a few minutes, leaving a few love bites on each other's necks. Marinette unbuttoned Adrien's shirt, and he tossed it aside, far out of his way. Her hands roamed his chest but still found themselves back in his hair when he unbuttoned the top few buttons on her sweater and ducked his head down to mark her collarbone.

She whispered his name, tugging on his hair. He murmured hers against her skin as though he could tattoo it onto her with his lips. She shrugged out of the sweater and the cool air of the room stung her skin, causing her to shiver. He rubbed her arms and planted more kisses on her shoulders to wipe the goosebumps away.

"I know someplace warmer." Adrien stared up at her, toying with her bra strap.

Mari knew her face was a deep crimson—or something like it, anyway. "Oh yeah?"

"It has blankets and pillows, so it's probably more comfortable anyway. Wanna try it out?"

Marinette nodded, squeaking when he lifted her and carried her to his bedroom.

Adrien fell backwards with her, gently hooking his legs around hers. "How's this?"

She kissed his neck. "Fine." She let her kisses trail down and left a dark hickey on his shoulder.

He hissed, her name still on his lips. "You know I'll have to cover all these for my shoots, right?"

She grinned up at him. "Oops."

He flipped them over and left matching mark on her shoulder.

"Adrien?"

"Hm?" He continued his way down her collarbone.

"Is this a good idea? I mean, I want to, but I'm scared of hurting you."

He didn't hesitate in answering her. "You could never hurt me by wanting comfort. Besides, if I didn't want to, I wouldn't. You know me well enough to know that, especially after the past few weeks we've had."

"What _are_ we doing, anyway?"

"Whatever you want. My comfort zone is exceedingly large."

"J-just how large is it?"

Adrien propped himself up on his elbow and bit his cheek to keep from smiling or even smirking. "Do you know how that question sounded, princess?"

Marinette huffed. "You're incorrigible." She pulled his face down and kissed him, hoping he'd melt against her. She rolled them back over when he did, gently pinned his wrists down, and kissed him again. "How big is your comfort zone?"

He grinned. "Wanna find out?"

* * *

 _A/N: FINALLY. This is the scene I've been waiting to publish for literal months now. And this chapter's a little longer because I have to change my update schedule again...to once a month...BUT THEY ARE FINALLY KIND OF TOGETHER, AND IT'S AMAZING. That is all. I love you all, and thanks for all the reviews! xoxo -wwot_


	22. The Morning After

Adrien awoke before Marinette did, pleased to find her still tangled up with him. He played with her hair, softly combing it out. She stirred at the sensation, relaxing when he stilled his fingers. He kissed her head and laid his own head back. He could wait a few minutes—

Someone's phone started buzzing. He swore quietly and picked his phone up first, frustrated when he figured out it was Mari's phone that was going off and that his was still dead. He read the notification: _Feed Tikki!_ She'd even added a heart emoji. " _Dammit_."

Tikki, of course, was at Marinette's. And she was here, sleeping on him. He didn't want to leave her for when she did wake up, but he couldn't very well let the hamster go hungry. _Alya! I can call Alya!_

He didn't need to; Alya was already calling Marinette.

"Girl, where in the hell are you? I know you're not home; I'm standing in it."

"She's with me, Alya. She's still sleeping."

" _Adrien?!_ "

"If you could feed Tikki for her, that would be great. Her alarm went off like five minutes ago."

"Adrien, why are you answering Marinette's phone?"

"I told you. She's sleeping."

"With you, apparently. What in the hell? When did this happen?"

"About…seven hours ago, give or take."

"How are you acting so casual about this?"

"I'm trying not to wake her up. Please just feed Tikki and don't tell Mari I told you. Have a great day!" Adrien hung up as Alya started sputtering, relaxing when he turned her phone on silent.

He laid like that for a while, shifting when she did.

"Mm. Adrien?"

"Good morning, love bug."

She rubbed her eyes and propped herself up on one elbow. "Time is it?"

"About half eight."

"Damn." Marinette stretched, not bothering to cover her chest until she settled back against him. "Didn't know I could sleep that long."

"I didn't, either. Are you feeling okay?"

She yawned against his skin and nodded. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"Pretty good. Guess you're all worn out, though." He grinned and planted another kiss on her head.

"Shut up. It's your fault." She held him tighter and buried her face against his neck. "All your fault." Mari stayed still against him for a few moments before sitting up suddenly. "I missed feeding Tikki. Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She started to untangle herself from Adrien and the sheets when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his chest again.

"Alya called because you weren't home. I told her to feed Tikki for you."

"Son of a bitch. She _knows_ , doesn't she?"

"It's not like it's hard to guess. You got a text message from August, she wasn't around, and you picked the next best person."

"I, uh, went to you first. I knew Alya wasn't available, so I skipped her altogether. She doesn't know about the text yet."

"Well, damn. This'll be interesting. How does breakfast sound? I'm in the mood for pancakes."

"How can you think about pancakes when we basically told the brains behind the Ladyblog that Chat Noir and Ladybug had a one-night stand?"

"Because I'm hungry. Besides, I make good pancakes."

"But why _pancakes_?"

Adrien shrugged, rubbing her back. "I like pancakes best, I suppose."

Marinette propped herself up on an elbow to stare at him. "Over crêpes?"

"Yes, even over crêpes. I got hooked on them on one of my trips to New York."

She narrowed her eyes. "But how? They don't even taste that good. Too dense."

"You've probably had a bad mix. I can get them fluffy for you if you want to try them." He started to sit up, kissing her along the way. "Here, let's go make them. I'll make you something else if you truly hate it." He untangled himself from the covers and pulled a pair of shorts on. "You coming?"

Marinette stretched again. "Yeah, give me a minute."

"Alright. I'll be in the kitchen when you're ready." He ducked out, a goofy smile growing on his face.

Marinette sat on the counter in one of Adrien's shirts a few moments later. "I still can't believe you like pancakes over crêpes! How very un-French of you."

"It's not my fault the flavor is better! Besides, it's all the better to impress you with, my dear."

She rolled her eyes. "Is it a good idea to be cooking with your shirt off?"

Adrien paused to consider this before cracking an egg. "Bacon, no, Pancakes should be fine, however." He busied himself with the batter, mixing everything to the right consistency. "Do you like blueberries?"

"I do, actually. In _cr_ _ê_ _pes._ " She stuck her tongue out at him. He put blueberries in the mix anyway.

They sat in silence while the pancakes cooked, each lost in their own thoughts. Marinette blushed as she watched Adrien's hands, remembering how they felt in her hair and on her back and—

"Syrup?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Please."

Adrien walked over and leaned beside her to get it out of the cupboard. "I hope maple is fine."

"I-it is."

He bit his cheek to keep from reacting to her blush. "Problem?" He leaned over her a little more, containing his excitement at her small gasp.

She grabbed him and kissed him—not on the mouth, right beside it so he _couldn't kiss her back, dammit_ , trailing her kisses down his neck, and _maybe not wearing a shirt was a_ great _idea_ —

They jumped apart when Marinette's phone rang.

"H-hello?"

"Mari? It's Carine. Are you coming to work?"

" _Oh la vache_ , I'm so sorry! I totally forgot I was scheduled today! I'll be in as soon as I can. So sorry, Carine. Sooo sorry."

Carine laughed. "It's no big deal. Just wanted to make sure you were fine."

"I'm fine! Definitely fine. Way more than _fi-fine_." She ignored how her voice trembled on the last word because Adrien grabbed her knee, incorrigible man.

"Glad to hear it. See you when you get here."

"See you." Marinette hung up and smacked Adrien's hand. "Bad kitty. Can you make those pancakes to go? I apparently forgot about work."

"I can do that. You can wear that shirt to work if you want."

"Thanks. I was considering it. I'll accessorize at work and pretend I didn't sleep here."

"You mean with Adrien Freaking Agreste. I'm offended." He made a dramatic gesture and put the pancakes on a plate. "I can drive so you can eat."

"That would be wonderful. How's my makeup? Hair?"

"Makeup is fine. I have a plethora of brushes on the bathroom counter."

"I noticed that last time. I'll be ready to go in five."

"I'll meet you at the door."

Marinette hopped off the counter and found her jeans hidden under Adrien's sweats—and a few other articles of clothing—and shrugged them on, grabbing her bra immediately after. When she ducked into the bathroom to grab a brush, she was genuinely impressed with how her makeup had turned out. Not that Adrien would lie to her…again. _Keep it together, Marinette. He apologized, and he didn't technically lie. Not like August._ She ran a brush through her hair and tucked it back into twin buns with the aid of some bobby pins she found in one of the drawers.

She walked to the front door, where Adrien was already waiting for her.

"I have pancakes, your purse, your sweater, and my keys. I can pick you up from work, too." He held out the purse and sweater for her, waiting for her to take them.

She shrugged the purse onto her shoulder and slung the sweater over her arm. "Great. That's gonna make people think I'm not planning another one-night stand with Adrien Freaking Agreste."

He grinned. "Really?"

Marinette smiled and pretended her face wasn't changing colors. "Yeah. Really." She giggled. "Also, you might want to put a shirt on before you go driving me around town."

"Dammit!"

* * *

Marinette ran into work with her purse and sweater slung over her arm.

"Cute shirt, Marinette! Why haven't I seen that before?"

She froze. "No idea, Tony. Guess it's not one I wear a lot."

"You'd have an easier time picking up guys if you wore it more." Tony smiled at her. "Bella says thanks for the blanket, by the way."

Mari rolled her eyes. "She's very welcome. Does it work out well with the car seat?"

"It works wonderfully, yes. Have you considered becoming a fashion designer instead of just a reporter?"

"Only all the time. I'll see you later, Tony." She waved and made her way to her desk. Sure enough, the picture that Adrien had taken was there, and she blushed at seeing it. Just how many times had she seen it without blushing only to be overtaken by the sensation now?

"Like the shirt, Marinette. Glad you decided to show up."

"Th-thanks, Carine."

Carine squinted for a moment, glancing between Marinette and the picture on her desk. "Hang on." She grabbed a tabloid from the stack closest to Marinette and thumbed through it, jabbing the paper with her finger when she found the page. "I knew I recognized it. Looks like you should pay a little more attention next time, huh?" Carine turned the page around so Mari could see what she was talking about.

Marinette blanched at the photograph. "Oh, hell."

On the page was none other than Adrien Freaking Agreste—wearing the very shirt Marinette had picked that morning.

"The good news is that you obviously have good taste in shirts _and_ in men. The bad news is that you're never gonna live it down. Here, hold this. This is picture-worthy."

Mari obliged and held the magazine photo of Adrien, making sure his shirt was visible on her, too. "And here I thought I could avoid being office gossip today."

"Nope. Tabloid gossip, maybe. I won't rat you out, but this is damn funny." Carine sent the picture to Marinette. "Forward that to Adrien. He might get a kick out of it, too."

"Actually, the worst part about this whole thing that he gave me a key to his place the same day this picture was taken. Like, literally two hours later." Marinette ran her fingers through her bangs. "You'd think I would've paid attention to what shirt I was getting, but no." Her phone alerted her to the message, so she forwarded it to Adrien. "What do you need me to do today?"

"Just layout stuff. It's all on your desk. And Marinette?"

"Yeah?"

Carine grinned. "Congrats."

* * *

 _A/N: Welp, it's been a while. Here's a list of reasons and excuses, including but not limited to: I went on a mission trip, my mental health has been crap for the last few months, I had a boyfriend for a short while who subsequently dumped me after we got pizza, we were understaffed at work so I had to fill in a lot, and other reasons. Please enjoy this (admittedly short) morning after chapter and give me some time to get back to the plot. xoxo -wwot_


	23. The Cat Food

Adrien parked in his driveway and bounced up his steps. He blamed his happy mood on one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Stunning, radiant, intelligent, beautiful, excellent-at-kissing Marinette. Adrien dared to grin to himself as he reminded himself that she wasn't excellent at _just_ kissing, and she'd also expressed interest in spending another night with him. He could take her out to dinner after he picked her up from work, give her flowers after he asked Alya what her favorite was, come home and spend an even better night with her...

The smile didn't leave his face as he unlocked the door and he scooped Plagg into his arms. "Good morning, my most favorite cat!"

" _Mraow_."

"I am doing excellently, thank you for asking. I hope we didn't bother you last night." Adrien planted a kiss on Plagg's head and carried him into the bedroom to check his messages, pleased to find one from Marinette.

He dissolved into fits of laughter when he saw the picture, enjoying Marinette's sassy pose.

' _Not fair. You look better in my shirt than I do!'_

Adrien carried a wriggling Plagg into the kitchen, promising to feed him in a few minutes. He dropped the cat to the counter and poured himself a cup of water, wandering back to his charging phone to check his other notifications.

' _don't worry, I look better out of your shirt, too'_

Adrien started choking on his water. She was going to be the death of him—unless Alya got to him first.

"Alya, why are you calling me?"

"Spill, Agreste. What led to you and Mari, uh…"

"Engaging in sexual intercourse?"

"Ew, do you have to be so clinical about it?"

Adrien snorted. "Says the woman who has accidentally called Marinette when we're hanging out more times than I can remember while you and Nino—"

"Shut up, lover boy. Now spill, and if you took advantage of Mari, I _will_ kick your ass. Or make Nino do it. I'm flexible."

He coughed. "Um, some of this would be better coming from Marinette. She's the one who initiated it and came over of her own volition. And she is so much better than I could ever hope to be. Like, _damn_."

"Would she say the same about you?"

"I honestly don't know, Alya. I mean, she did sleep later than I did, so I would hope so, and remind me why I'm talking to you about this, please." Adrien switched her to speakerphone and laid the phone on the bathroom counter so he could make himself look presentable.

"Because Marinette is my best friend and I want to know what you're gonna say about her."

"To other people? Nothing. She doesn't deserve that; I know how private she is about that stuff. She barely told me how many partners she's had, let alone anything else."

Alya laughed. "Oh, I could've told you that information."

"Okay, sure, let me just _call you_ when she's _shirtless_ and I'm trying to mentally hold onto all of these normal safe sex behaviors. That's gonna work _so_ well. And yes, we used a condom." He brought a washcloth to his face, getting off everything he hadn't the night before.

"Good. I'm proud of you. I hope you know where it actually goes, although if you're fine with bringing cucumbers into the bedroom—"

" _Alya!_ "

She snickered. "I'm just kidding. Mari's…yeah, anyway, congratulations."

"Thanks. I really hope I don't screw this up, you know? Mari's so great and I'm so _me_ that it worries me." Adrien ran his hands through his hair, hoping to style it better than the excessive poof it wanted to be.

"Mari's the kind of person to hold off on sex until she's sure about what she wants. She's probably in it for the long haul if she does sleep with someone, so I would imagine that she's at least a little serious about you. Rest assured that it will be hard to screw it up from here."

"Huh?"

Adrien could practically hear Alya's eyes rolling. "Marinette hates having casual sex. She really likes you, and you can't screw it up. What's so hard about that?"

"No, my cat came in and started acting extra affectionate. He's probably done something I'll find later." Adrien pet Plagg with his foot. "Didn't you, you little turd?"

Plagg rolled over, channeling his inner puddle.

"Can I meet Plagg sometime?"

"Sure. You and Nino can come over and have dinner with Marinette and me, and you can meet this cat who is eight kilos of asshole and one kilo of niceness."

"He's _nine kilos?_ Holy crap. Hold on, Nino just walked in. Nino, Plagg is nine kilos!"

"I know, babe. I've met him before. Plagg is the original Chat Noir, in all of his round glory."

"Why am I the last to know this?"

Adrien laughed, his hair finally styled. "I'll let you two go. I need to figure out what he's done. Have a good day; I'll try and coordinate our schedules for dinner."

"Shalom, my dude."

"Bye, Adrien. And congrats again."

"Congrats on wha—"

Adrien hung up before Nino could finish the question. "Now, Plagg, you wanna tell me what you did?"

" _Mraow._ "

* * *

Marinette yawned and rubbed her eyes. Okay, doing layouts wasn't her favorite, but the least she could do would be to stay awake. Her phone let out a quiet _meow_ and she smiled. Whatever Adrien sent her had to be good.

' _Look at what Plagg did.'_

Marinette burst into laughter when she saw the entire bag of cat food spread over his kitchen floor, minus a few spots where Plagg had rolled around.

' _I'm not even shocked tbh'_

' _I didn't think you would be. But hey, Alya called me, she said congrats and stuff.'_

' _yeah, she texted me earlier. told her I have to spill the deets. needy woman.'_

' _She made a valiant effort to get information out of me, but I stayed strong for you, my lady.'_

' _is it bad that I want to hear you say that again?'_

' _Only if it's bad that I want to say it'_

Marinette fought the blush creeping up her neck and dared to send one more text before she got back to work.

' _well, maybe that can be arranged.'_

She turned her phone to vibrate and placed it face down on her desk, ignoring the buzz when it came in a few seconds later. These layouts needed to be _done_.

"How goes it, Marinette?"

"Fine, Carine. This is what I have so far."

Carine squinted and looked carefully at them. "It looks good. I trust you. You haven't mucked it up yet, so why would you start now?" She clapped Marinette on the shoulder. "Good work. And tell Adrien hello from me before you quit texting him."

Marinette hung her head, ignoring Carine's laughter as she walked away.

* * *

The gang was all together at Adrien's a few nights later, relaxing after dinner. Alya had Plagg curled up in her lap, and she was baby-talking to him occasionally. Nino had his arm around Alya, but it was mostly so he could sit closer and pet Plagg.

Marinette's face lit up at watching them. "You guys should get a cat."

Alya scoffed. "Who would take care of it?"

"Um, you two. You're basically the parent friends anyway." Adrien waved his hand like it was a given. "We can all go to the shelter and pick one out for you guys."

"But what if we end up with one like Plagg?"

"Nino, you're willingly petting him and giving him belly rubs. What's so bad about that?" Marinette took a sip of wine to punctuate her next statement. "Unless you'd rather start with a baby."

The two scrambled away from each other as though the closeness would be the cause of pregnancy, which made Marinette and Adrien laugh hard enough to cry. Plagg jumped off Alya's lap and curled up under the coffee table.

Marinette spoke when she'd calmed down. "Seriously, you guys. I've watched you two from the beginning of your relationship, and it would be great to see you take care of something that isn't me. If you're up for it, of course. You know I could never force you." She leaned forward and put her glass on the table.

"You mean, unlike how we forced you to get Tikki?"

"Hey, I do a good job of taking care of her! I have alarms set up and everything. Surely the both of you would do a better job." Mari pouted; Adrien laid a hand on her knee to comfort her.

"We'll think about it. And we should probably get going. I have a work thing really early tomorrow. Interview with the world's earliest early bird." Alya rolled her eyes and stood, prompting everybody else to stand as well. "Thank you for dinner, Adrien."

"It was no trouble. I had fun making it, and I had two excellent helpers." He lightly squeezed Marinette's butt when the other two weren't paying attention, ignoring her glare on purpose.

The group exchanged hugs and further pleasantries, and Alya and Nino left.

"Mari?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, _Chaton_."

Adrien took a deep breath, words spilling out as soon as his mouth was open. "I know it's sudden, but Alya mentioned that your lease was running out soon, so I was wondering if you wanted to maybe move in with me?"

Marinette blinked, processing all the information. "I-I mean, it scares me, but, um…yeah? Sure?"

He breathed a sigh of utter relief. "Good. I was already rearranging my closet for that very purpose. I was even making a spot for Tikki and I—" He stumbled when Mari ran straight into his chest with a muffled expression of gratitude. "What are you thanking me for?" He wrapped his arms around her and held her closer, nestling his nose in the part of her hair.

"For just assuming that I'd say yes and making adjustments already. Let's do it. Adrien Agreste, I want to move in with you." Marinette leaned back to look at him, a smile growing on her face. "I guess it's not Germany, but Paris will do."

"Oh good. I was hoping so." Adrien squeezed her softly. "So, we can buy new furniture, or we can make your current stuff work."

"Adrien, my furniture works fine. We'll have to find a place for the big stuff, but that's life sometimes. All that really matters is that we have a place for us with enough room for our dumb pets."

Plagg let out a quiet whine.

"Yes, that includes you and your fat self. Tikki will be here with you, so don't start bitching." Marinette scrunched her nose at Plagg, who merely rolled over and stretched.

Adrien bit his cheek to keep himself from laughing. "Aren't you glad you love him?"

"I am. He's just annoying sometimes. And, hey, I know we were going to go out on a date tomorrow, but do you want to start getting me moved in instead?"

"That sounds like a plan." Adrien rubbed her back, letting his fingers linger near her waistband.

Marinette stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. "What do you want to do tonight?"

Adrien answered her with a kiss.

* * *

 _A/N: So, shortish chapter because I started it when I was buzzed last night and then fell asleep. And, for context, Plagg's weight of 9 kilos is equivalent to about 20 lbs; I have two friends with two different cats who are that weight, so I know it's possible. Anyway, please let me know what you think! I live on your reviews. I also don't promise to know when my next chapter will come, but I do think that it'll be a good one. Love you all! Don't forget to check out Leisey (she is my amazing fanfiction wifey and deserves all of your love)! xoxo -wwot_


	24. The Moving Day — ft Leisey

_A/N: I TOLD YOU I'D UPDATE ON JULY 2. TAKE THAT, LIFE._

 _ **Also, I have a fun surprise: this chapter was written by my amazingly talented and beautiful fanfiction wife Leisey!** I asked her to write a chapter for me because I was getting stuck with the move-in scene, and she did an absolutely wonderful job and I love her SO MUCH. Go check out her stuff, please! (And tell her what a good job she did on this chapter!) We actually traded chapters, and I wrote one for her story Lost in the Time Stream, so go give that a read, too!  
_

 _Also, be on the lookout for another chapter coming later today ;)_

 _xoxo -wwot_

* * *

Adrien didn't realize that moving Marinette's stuff would take quite as long as it did.

"I'm exhausted!" He groaned, collapsing at his kitchen table.

"We're _all_ exhausted," Nino yawned, slumping at the table across from him.

"We're not done yet," Marinette said, "we've still got more stuff to move."

Nino shot up, suddenly re-energised. "No, no, no," he said, shaking his head. "It is lunch time. We need sustenance."

"But we're on a roll," Marinette protested. "If we stop now, we'll lose momentum and it'll never get done."

" _Sustenance_."

"Motioned seconded," Adrien said. "Motion passed."

The boys fist bumped.

"Crêpes?" Nino suggested.

"Someone thinks pancakes are better," Marinette said, giving Adrien a pointed look.

Nino raised an eyebrow. "Really? We're in _Paris_ , dude!"

"I just like pancakes, okay?"

"He's a weirdo."

"Never mind. We've just moved a huge amount of stuff, I need something more substantial than crêpes," Nino said.

There was a pause.

"McDonald's?" Marinette proposed.

"McDonald's," the boys agreed.

In the end, it was decided that Nino would go and get the food because Adrien was still supposed to be laying low after the whole 'Hawkmoth painted him as Chat Noir' fiasco—and Marinette still wanted to unpack some of her things.

Too bad for her, Adrien was a beautiful, persistent distraction.

He walked up and hugged her from behind while she was putting mugs into a cupboard. " _Mariiiii_ ," he said, drawing out the nickname.

He could see the corner of her mouth tugged up in a smile. "Yes, _Chaton_?"

"Thank you for moving in with me."

She put another mug away. "Thank you for asking me to."

"Well, you know, it was all for your awesome tea-making skills."

Another mug went into the cupboard. "Clearly."

Adrien smiled and pressed a kiss to her neck. "Clearly."

She paused what she was doing. "I'm supposed to be unpacking."

"Am I distracting you? I do hope I'm distracting you."

Marinette put the last mug in the cupboard and then turned in his embrace so she was facing him; she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Has anyone ever told you that you're annoyingly beautiful?"

"That's a first. Am I annoyingly beautiful and distracting?"

She shut him up with a kiss.

Adrien melted into it, returning the gesture eagerly. It didn't matter that he'd done so numerous times since she'd turned up at his doorstep, upset about the text August had sent her. It didn't matter that they'd gone further than simply kissing. Every kiss with Marinette was like air to a drowning man, and he drank her in greedily.

Eventually, though, Marinette pulled away. "What are we going to do, _Chaton_?"

He frowned at her serious tone of voice. "About?"

"Papillion. He has to be someone close to you. The press is going to want answers, and they're gonna hound you for details."

Adrien cupped her cheek and Marinette leaned into it. "Hey," he said, rubbing her cheek gently with his thumb. "We're gonna get through this and we're gonna do it together. It's not that big of a deal. Father knows I've been doing street art for ages, and he doesn't really care. It's going to be okay, Maribug."

"I know, but still. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'm going to be fine. _We're_ going to be fine. But we're not thinking about that right now."

"We're not?"

He pulled her into a waltz position and began dancing her around the kitchen. "No," he said, "we're thinking about the fact that you're moved in with me."

"Not technically; there's still more stuff to move."

"You're throwing off my groove, Princess."

She laughed. "Sorry, _Chaton_."

They fell into silence as Adrien spun her around the kitchen. But Marinette soon started giggling as Adrien led her through ridiculous dance steps. They lost track of how long they danced for, but they stopped abruptly when familiar and highly amused voices spoke up from behind them.

"Well, Nino, would you look at these two lovebirds?"

"Yeah, they look like they're having quite the time."

Marinette and Adrien turned to see Alya (who had been picked up from work by Nino at some point during his lunch run) and Nino standing there, their arms filled with McDonald's.

"Nino, dearest, didn't you tell me that our favorite crocheting human disaster said she wasn't going to come help get lunch because she was, and I quote, 'Going to keep unpacking'?"

"I think I did say that, babe."

"And does this look like unpacking to you?"

"This looks like these two nerds were caught dancing to me. I mean, I'm not entirely sure what Adrien was doing, but it _looked_ like dancing."

"Hey! I'm a great dancer!"

Alya ignored Adrien's protest and turned to Nino. "You owe me ten euro."

As Nino grumbled and got out his wallet, Marinette asked, "What for?"

"She bet that you'd get distracted by Adrien," Nino answered. "And now that I'm poorer because of you two dancing losers, I present to you: _sustenance_."

* * *

"Why do I have so much stuff?!" Marinette groaned.

"Where do you want this, Mari?" Nino asked, holding up a giant box of crocheting supplies.

"Lahiffe, shush, can't you see I'm bemoaning my overabundance of belongings?"

He laughed. "I can, but that's not gonna make them get unpacked any quicker, so…"

Marinette sighed gestured to the desk and shelves where Adrien had his art equipment stored. "Just put it over there, please."

Nino grinned at her but didn't go to put the box away. "Moving and weird butterfly dude troubles aside, you and Adrien are pretty cool. You know that, right?"

"Really?"

"Of course! You two create art. It's incredible." He nodded at the box he held in his hands. "I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to do what you do."

"Well, if you ever want to learn…"

"I know where to find you."

She smiled. "Thanks, Nino."

"No wo—"

 _"_ _Plagg, no!"_

Further conversation was halted as they heard Alya's cry. Marinette and Nino turned to see Plagg knocking over some of the painting supplies that Marinette had just gestured to moments before.

Alya scrambled to catch some of the bottles before they hit the ground; she was unsuccessful.

"Why are some of these open?!" She shrieked as paint splashed on the floor and over herself.

"What's going on?!" Adrien ran in from the next room. "Ah! Plagg, no! Bad kitty!"

Marinette and Nino just watched as their significant others tried to fix the mayhem that Plagg caused.

There was a pause and then, "Moving sucks," Nino said.

"Yeah, it does," Marinette agreed.

* * *

Some hours later, all of Marinette's stuff was moved in, Plagg's mess was cleaned up, and Alya and Nino had gone home. Utterly spent, Adrien and Marinette collapsed on the lounge together, curled up so Marinette was in Adrien's arms.

"Moving is the worst," she said. "I'm so tired."

Adrien pressed a kiss to her temple. "Yes, but all your stuff is here now. The moving is done."

"Yeah, but I still have to unpack everything."

"Shh, that's a Future-Us problem."

"Oh really? I bet Future-Us are going to hate Present-Us when it comes to them unpacking."

"Don't bring logic into this, Maribug. Let me be lazy."

"I didn't think the word 'lazy' was in your vocabulary."

"Well, it is now, and that's what I'm being."

"Speaking of lazy, do you want pizza for dinner? Home delivery?"

"Somewhere in Paris, my dietician is crying."

"Oh, come on, you know you want some."

"Yeah, yeah, I do," he said, taking out his phone to order their dinner.

They painted a domestic scene as they waited for the delivery. Tikki and Plagg were playing together while Marinette and Adrien stayed curled on the lounge, watching television and commenting occasionally about the show that was on.

"The wife did it," Adrien declared.

"It so wasn't the wife. She's being framed! It was totally the co-worker."

(Adrien was awfully smug when it did turn out to be the wife.)

Eventually, a knock at the door told them their delivery had arrived, but Adrien was reluctant to get up from his comfy spot.

"Is the pizza really worth it?" He asked.

"You mean the Meatlovers with extra cheese? You bet it is."

With a laugh, Adrien got up to answer the door. He greeted the deliveryman with a smile and gave him a generous tip. He'd just thanked him and went to say goodbye, when the deliveryman piped up with, "Hey, aren't you Adrien Agre-"

"No, my name is Steve. Thank you, goodbye," Adrien said and shut the door.

Marinette just looked at him. " _Steve_?"

"My Lady, there is a pizza here with my name on it, and I will not wait for it any longer."

Marinette walked over to him and looked at the pizza box. "I don't see the name Steve on here anywhere."

"Oh, ha- _ha_."

"Well, if it doesn't have your name on it, I guess I'll just have to eat it all."

Not willing to take that chance, Adrien darted over to where a pen was forgotten on the table. He snatched it up and scrawled quickly on the pizza box. His work done, he proudly presented it to Marinette.

"'Adrien Freaking Agreste,'" she read aloud.

"It's got my name on it now," he said.

She rolled her eyes at him in fond exasperation. "Silly, _Chaton_."

He winked at her. "You know it. Now, ready to eat before it gets cold?"

Marinette nodded, but before they could move back to the lounge, they were distracted by a fat cat coming over to rub themselves against their legs.

Adrien sighed. "Plagg, just because you're sucking up to us and just because this pizza has extra cheese, it does not mean that cheese is for you."

Plagg gave a mournful meow.

As Adrien continued to argue with the cat, Marinette disappeared into the kitchen, only to return with plates and cans of coke.

"My dietician so, _so_ hates you," Adrien said.

Marinette pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I can live with that. Come on, _Chaton_. Dinnertime."

* * *

Dinner was all well and good, but bedtime presented a problem.

Well, not a _problem_ , problem. More like, 'Oh my god, this is the first night I'm sleeping with my girlfriend in _our_ place, what do I do?'

Adrien may have been overthinking the situation.

Marinette clearly thought so, as she walked into the room and laughed at him. "Stop worrying," she said. They got into bed, laying on their sides and facing each other. "I can practically hear your thoughts."

He shook his head. "I'm not worrying."

Marinette raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"No—okay—it's just—"

Marinette reached out to intertwine their fingers. "Hey," she whispered in the darkness of their room, her voice soft and comforting, "it's alright. You can tell me anything, you know that. What's up?"

Adrien took a deep breath and tried to get his thoughts in order. "Today has been perfect. _So_ perfect. Everything-I-ever-wanted perfect. You're here in my house— _our_ house—and it's amazing. _You're_ amazing. I guess I'm just worried that I'm so _me_ that I'm going to ruin it."

Marinette let go of his hand to cup his cheek instead; Adrien leaned into her touch automatically. "Remember what you told me today? We're gonna get through this, and we're gonna do it together. That doesn't just count for graffiti artists with a weird love of butterflies and the penchant for ruining better artists' work. That counts for us, too. Being in a relationship, living in the same place, it's not gonna be easy. Every relationship has its ups and down, but we're gonna get through them together. And you know what? There no one else I'd rather do it with."

A wide smile slowly bloomed on Adrien's face. "How in the world do I deserve you? What did I do to be so blessed?"

Marinette beamed at him. "That sounds more like my smooth-talking _Chaton_. And in response to your question: you graffitied the bench I was going to yarnbomb."

"The start of a beautiful friendship."

"And more."

"And more," Adrien agreed.

She leaned in to press a soft kiss to his lips and then pulled away. There was a short silence before Marinette spoke up again. "You know, my Maman said to me that when people like you and I get together, miraculous things happen."

A beat passed and then, "Okay, I was wondering where you were going when you brought up your mother in bed, but—"

" _Adrien_!"

He laughed. "Sorry, sorry."

"No, you're not."

"Okay, no, but let me finish."

"Fine."

"I didn't ruin the moment, did I?"

"Yes, you did, you giant jerk."

"I like to think I _enhanced_ the moment."

"Why do I love you, again?"

"Because I'm Adrien Freaking Agreste: professional model, occasional graffiti artist, pun master, and animal lover."

"What happened to the Adrien who thought he was going to ruin this because he's a human disaster?"

"I listened to my partner, who always knows what to say to make me feel better. And I know that I'm worrying for nothing because said partner loves me regardless of me being a mess. Or regardless of my awful—read: awesome—jokes—"

"You can't say _read_ , this is a _verbal_ conversation—"

"And I know that whatever happens, we're gonna get through it together because we're an awesome team. Maman Sabine is right, we're a miraculous team—Team Miraculous!"

"We don't need a team name."

"All the best teams have names. The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy, both Team Avatars—"

"This is the worst pillow talk I've ever received."

Adrien grinned and pulled her closer to him. "I can do better," he said, "if that's what you want."

"Yes, please."

He shifted them so Marinette was on her back and Adrien leaned over her. In the most seductive voice he could manage, he murmured into her ear, "Team Voltron, The Golden Trio—"

Marinette groaned. " _Adrien_! Oh, my god!"

He cut off her protests with a kiss, reveling in the little moan Marinette made as she got over her surprise and kissed him back.

He pulled away from her lips to kiss her neck. "Told you I could do better," he said, as he left hickeys on her skin.

Marinette fixed him with a sultry stare. "It's our first night living together, _Chaton_. Surely you can do better than _that_."

Desire pooled in his stomach at the implication, and he kissed her again. "As you wish, my Lady. As you wish."


	25. The Domestic Life

_A/N: Here's the second chapter for today!_

* * *

Adrien and Marinette fell easily into a routine in their first week together. Whoever was home first would make dinner—usually Adrien—and whoever didn't make dinner would do the dishes—usually Marinette. Adrien took care of the trash and feeding Tikki unless he got in after midnight, and they tried to switch on feeding Plagg.

Marinette flopped onto the couch when she came home from work, kicking her sandals off so she could rest her feet on the arm. "Ah, the domestic life. We're living it big."

Adrien set a plate on the coffee table. "I made you crêpes. Bacon, roasted tomatoes, and cream cheese."

She perked up, reaching for the plate. "You are a saint among mortals."

"Aren't saints also mortal?" He walked back to grab a plate of pancakes for himself, drizzling it with plenty of syrup.

She shoved a bite into her mouth, savoring it for a moment before swallowing. "You knew what I meant. This is great. It's like you're trying to get me into bed with you or something." Marinette ate a few more bites, praising Adrien all the while.

He sat next to her on the couch. "I guess this means that you're here to stay."

"I don't have an apartment anymore, Adrien."

"Until you get a new apartment, then." He winked at her, shoveling more pieces of pancake into his mouth.

Marinette glanced over and saw the pancakes practically swimming in syrup. "Um, do you want some syrup on your crêpes-on-steroids?"

"They are just pancakes, Marinette, and I will put however much syrup I want to on them." As if to prove his point, he took the bottle and poured more syrup on top while staring her in the eye, promptly taking another bite and cringing. "Okay, that might be too much syrup."

"See? If you'd just stick to the standard French practice, you'd be fine." Marinette licked some cream cheese off her fork and dove back in for more.

"So, what project do you want to do next?"

Marinette stared at her plate for a second, concentration knitting her brow. "You know, let's celebrate butterflies. Nothing purple, but there are plenty of gorgeous species out there. I'm sure I could crochet a few, and you could paint some. We could make a butterfly palace or something."

"That sounds good, Buginette, but I think it would turn out better if we had some help." Adrien gave her a knowing look. "How does that sound?"

Marinette grinned. "That, Chaton, sounds like a plan."

—

Nino and Marinette walked into the jewelry store, Marinette's arm looped casually through Nino's.

"Thank you so much for helping me out with this. I have no idea what I'm doing, honestly."

Marinette leaned more into him. "Anything for a friend. Okay, not anything anything, but anything that you'd reasonably ask. Your future finacée is questionable, however."

"That's a fair statement. Ooh, what do you think about that one?" Nino pointed to a ring with a simple amethyst setting.

"She'd probably like that, but let's keep looking. We don't want to pick the first thing we think she'd like and not end up with something she wouldn't like."

The store employee walked over to them. "When's the big day?"

Marinette laughed, Nino turned red, and she laughed harder at him for having turned red. "We're not getting married," she explained, "I'm helping him pick out the ring for my best friend. We have the same ring size."

"Understandable. Is there anything in particular that you're looking for, sir?"

"I think she'd like whatever I gave her, honestly. Her favorite color is purple, hence the amethyst as my initial first choice, but I also think she'd prefer something a little more flashy. On that note, my budget probably won't allow for something very flashy."

"What's your budget?"

Nino clammed up for a moment.

"Give him the sticky note, Nino." Marinette prided herself on that suggestion so he wouldn't have to say what he felt was a low number out loud.

Nino handed him the sticky note with shaky hands.

The man looked it over and nodded. "Very well. I think we'll find something that would suit your needs. Follow me." He led them to another counter and showed them some settings. "We can get any of these with an amethyst, which, lucky for you, tends to be a bit cheaper."

Nino raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions.

"They found a mine in Brazil with a lot of them, so prices dropped as supply increased. They're seen as less valuable now that they're more available." Marinette shrugged. "Wikipedia is great, honestly."

The salesman nodded. "That's accurate as far as I know. And she's right; it's not like you're getting a diamond set in among a circle of other diamonds with diamonds in the band."

Nino blanched at the idea.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't have to pick something today. Do you just want to get a card and leave for now? We can always come back another day." Marinette placed a comforting hand on his back, partially shielding him from the salesman with her body.

Nino nodded.

She turned back to the salesman. "Could we get a couple of business cards, please? I think it's a little too much for us today. We still have several months to get it sorted out, so we'll definitely be back."

The salesman reached over and wrote his name on the back of two cards. "One for each of you. We look forward to seeing you again."

Marinette took them with a thank you and guided Nino out of the store.

"I'm sorry."

"Nino, you are fine. You have no reason to apologize. It's a little overwhelming."

Nino nodded, gripping tightly when Marinette's hand found his.

"Let's talk about something else. Does that sound okay?"

He was silent for a moment. "Will you teach me to crochet?"

She blinked. "Yeah, I can do that. Adrien and I were just talking about that, actually. Wanna join us on our next project?"

Nino beamed. "That sounds awesome."

* * *

Alya parked near the shelter the next day and gave Nino clear instructions: Go look at the cats, pick out a cat, do all the paperwork, and leave. She had not, however, taken into account other distractions that would muss up those plans.

Nino pressed his face to the glass of the aquarium, angling his head because of his glasses. "I want it."

"Nino, we're here to adopt a cat, not a turtle."

"But he's so lonely, Alya."

"Honey, we can only afford one. We talked about the cat, we already have some stuff for it, so let's just get it and go."

Nino lingered, whispering soft goodbyes to the turtle.

Alya, meanwhile, was already on her way to find the cats.

The worker gestured to the enclosure. "You'll find that most of our cats are pretty much the same. Similar colorings, most pretty docile. Good house pets."

Alya pointed when she saw one that caught her eye. "What about the orange one?"

"That one is an adult. She's pretty nervous around people. We think she was abused before we found her."

Alya frowned. "But she's so pretty. Can I meet her?"

The worker squeezed into the area around all the other cats and picked her up. "She really doesn't like strangers." They handed the cat over to Alya.

"What's her name?" Alya cradled the cat on her shoulder, smiling when the cat purred and settled closer.

"Whatever you want it to be."

"I wanna name you...Trixx. You like that?"

Trixx meowed.

"I'll take her. How much?"

"We'll make you a deal for the cat and the turtle."

"The what?" Alya turned, adjusting her grip on Trixx.

Nino walked up with the turtle in a tank, worry apparent on his face. "I named him Wayzz."

Alya turned back to the worker. "What kind of deal?"

"Both for the adoption fee for the cat. We've had them both for a while."

Alya nodded her head definitively. "We'll do it."

Nino stared at her, surprise erasing the worry. "Wait, really, Alya?"

She smiled at Nino. "We'll make it work. Besides, what's one more in the house?"

* * *

"Remind me again why I moved in with you." Marinette rolled over and buried her face in the pillow, ignoring Plagg's desperate pleas for food or attention or something.

"Because your lease was running out and you love me."

"I'm starting to question that. Ow, Plagg!" She rolled so that Plagg would quit digging his claws into her legs. "Go bother Adrien. You know, the guy who actually owns the place?"

"I fed him yesterday morning."

"No, you didn't. I did."

"I'm positive that I fed him."

"Well, I fed him when I fed Tikki."

Adrien froze. "Plagg, you little shit."

"Damn cat," Marinette grumbled.

Plagg just meowed.

"I'll make a more detailed chore chart later. Right now, I'm going back to sleep."

"Fine. I'll feed him. I have to be up in an hour anyway." Marinette rolled out from under the covers, rubbing her eyes. "Come on, little shit." She doled out the appropriate amount of food for Plagg, changed his water, and meandered back to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She flopped onto Adrien, who jumped.

"What was that for?"

" _Je ne veux_ _pas_ travailler _._ "

"I don't either, bug, but we gotta."

" _Je ne veux_ _pas déjeuner._ "

"Honey, it's half five."

" _Je veux selement l'oublier._ "

"You don't even smoke, Marinette."

" _Et puis_ —hey, you stole my line." She pouted though he couldn't see it in the dark.

"Mm. Sorry. Bedtime." Adrien did his best to roll over and bury his own face in the pillow, dislodging Mari in the process.

She squeaked and landed beside him, mumbling about not being under the covers.

"Then get under the covers. I don't bite."

"But that requires moving."

" _Oh la vache_ , Mari. Get under the damn covers or don't, just let me sleep. I got in at two after that shoot last night."

"Fine." Marinette got up and yawned, mentally going through everything she needed to get done that day. She picked out a shirt of Adrien's to wear—having a model boyfriend had its perks, and free clothes to be used as walking advertisements was one of them. She got dressed in the bathroom and put makeup on, smirking at the shadow of a hickey that hid under her ear. She finished up and snuck into the kitchen, ignoring Adrien's snores except for a kiss on his head.

"Plagg?"

A distant _mraow_ was heard.

She opened up one of the bottom cupboards; sure enough, he was there, curled in the mixing bowls.

"How did you close the door?"

He just settled down into the bowl, putting his head back down and pretending to go to sleep.

Marinette rolled her eyes and closed her cupboard door, smiling when she realized that she was finally taking ownership of it also. It was _her_ cupboard and _her_ home, and no amount of worrying or ruined projects would take that away from her. She knew she was in it for the long haul, and that gave her an idea.

She left quietly so Adrien could sleep peacefully and dialed Sabine when she got into Nellie and started her drive to work.

"Morning, sweetie! What's up?"

"Maman, how did you know you wanted to marry Papa?"

Marinette could hear the smile in her voice. "I had this conversation with Alya not too long ago. It came with a sudden realization that, while I _could_ live my life without Tom, I didn't _want_ to. Sure, we had our differences, but I knew that I loved him and wanted to help him succeed in life. I also knew that he wanted the same for me. Our partnership was equal and genuine. I also knew that I was willing to put in the work to make sure our emotional passion never faded even if the physical—"

"I get the point, Maman. How did you get to that realization?"

"I was thinking one day and discovered that truth down inside of me. Thank goodness he proposed not long after; I don't think I could've handled waiting that long when I figured it out!" Sabine laughed. "Well, worse things have happened, anyway. I would've lived."

"But you didn't _want_ to without him."

"Right. Why, what are you thinking?"

Marinette took a deep breath. "I don't want to live without Adrien. I love him, and I know I'm in it for good. And, like you said, I want him to succeed, and I want to help him with that."

"What about _physical_ passion, Marinette?"

Her voice rose an octave and her cheeks reddened with every word. "Uh, um, er, th-there's absolutely nothing you n-need to worry about going on!"

"Bug, you live with him. There's no fooling this old bat."

"B-but you're not old!"

Sabine scoffed, her voice taking on a joking tone. "But I'm still a bat?"

" _Maman!_ "

Sabine laughed. "I'm teasing you, love. Oh, speaking of supporting my husband, he needs help with something. What? It's our daughter. No, not Alya, the other one. Alya's not up this early. Papa says he loves you, other one."

"Tell him I love him, too. Love you, Maman."

"Love you."

Marinette hung up and contemplated her mother's words on her drive to work, a calm feeling washing over her as she rounded a traffic circle.

 _I think I do want to marry Adrien. Huh._

And then came the crash.

* * *

 _A/N: ...Please don't hate me._

 _I promise that the wait won't be so long next time; writer's block really kills all of us, you know? Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought!  
_

 _xoxo -wwot_


	26. The Lesson

Adrien hated getting phone calls when he was sleeping, especially the morning after a late shoot. He ignored them as often as he could, almost automatically swiping to ignore them. But when Marinette called for the _sixth time—_

"Honeybug, what do you need? I'm trying to sleep over here." He rubbed his eyes and scratched at his stubble, fighting the yawn bubbling through his chest.

Her tone was low and even. "Adrien, I've been in an accident. I'm—"

"Holy shit!" Adrien jumped up, searching for some pants. "Are you okay? What happened? Do you need me to be there?"

"I'm mostly fine, just a few scrapes and bruises, I think. A little shaken. I'm not sure about Nellie, though. And yeah, I could use you around here."

"I can do that. So, what happened?" He pulled an arm through a shirt and realized that it was Marinette's and would never fit him.

"Some moron tried to change lanes in the traffic circle and hit me, which caused me to block the person behind me, so they also ran into me."

He found a shirt of his own and tugged it on. "I'm so sorry. I'll be there as soon as I can. Wait, do you _want_ me there? How are you getting to work? Do they know you're going to be late? Is there anything else you need?"

"Honey, one question at a time. Yes, you can come. Um, I'll probably want a ride to work when this is all settled. Yes, they know; I called Carine before I called you. And I don't think so, but thank you. I'll see you soon."

"Okay. Bye. Wait! Text me where you are!"

"I will. I have to go and talk to everybody else involved. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye now." Adrien hung up and tried to take deep breaths, but he found it to be an ineffective calming mechanism when he almost walked out without keys or shoes. "Pull your head together, Agreste. She's fine. She talked to you herself."

Plagg meowed and sat on the shoe he had yet to put on.

"I do not have time for more of your bullshit, kitten king of _getting in my way._ " Adrien pried the shoe out from under Plagg. "You and your loveable and yet exceptionally fat ass…" Adrien gave him a quick scratch behind the ears and made sure to walk out with his keys.

He made it two blocks before he realized that he'd forgotten his phone—and therefore Marinette's location.

"Dammit, Adrien!"

A good five minutes later, he was on the way with everything he needed. He wouldn't remember the drive over there if asked about it, and he wouldn't remember parking and getting a ticket, either. He would, however, remember the relief on Marinette's face that mirrored his own as he ran over to her.

He wrapped her in a tight hug, holding her closer than he thought possible. "Don't scare me like that again." _I don't want to lose you._

She grasped him tighter, understanding the unspoken words. "I know."

* * *

A few days later, Marinette was over at Nino's with a tub of yarn and hooks and a bounty of crocheting knowledge.

"Okay, first we start with a slipknot—"

"Nettie, what's a slipknot?"

Marinette stared at Nino. "It's a knot that comes undone if you pull on it correctly. It also tightens around things and won't come undone if something's in the middle of it."

Nino just raised an eyebrow.

"Just watch, Nino." She twisted her fingers around the yarn just so, pulling through at the right spot to create the knot. " _Et voila_! A slipknot!" She pulled it out to show him again, going through the steps. "Now you try." She nodded to the skein of yarn in his lap.

Nino pulled the yarn from the center, getting a good length out.

"Fun fact, some people don't recommend that because you're more likely to get your yarn tangled. Some people never have problems with it, but a lot of people pull from the outside. It's actually what I use a yarn bowl for."

"A yarn bowl?"

"It's...my bowl thing, Nino. The one with the swirly design cut in the side?"

"Oh. I thought that was just for decoration."

"How have you never seen me using it? I use it all the time when I crochet."

"I don't know! Maybe I wasn't paying attention!"

"Whatever. I'm getting you a yarn bowl. Okay, back to the slipknot. Show me what you got."

Nino stuck his tongue between his lips and twisted his fingers and the yarn the same way Marinette had shown him. "Did I do it right?"

Marinette smiled. "Yes, you did! I'm so proud! Now take it out and do it five more times. I read somewhere that doing it over and over reinforces it in your mind."

"But it looks so nice! What if I don't do as good of a job after five times?"

"Then you do it until it looks nice again. Besides, it's a slipknot. Nobody's going to see it or care if you did a good job on a dumb knot, and a few ruined stitches give the piece character, honestly. And this is coming from me, and you know how much of a perfectionist I am."

"Yeah, I do." Nino took the knot out and redid it a few times, getting the hang of it each time. "Oh, I see what you mean. This feels a lot easier now."

"Yep. There's a way to do it with the hook, but I always find it confusing, so I just do it off the hook."

"What if I like that way better?"

"Then you can look it up online. There are hundreds of crochet videos out there. Okay, now chain stitches. Actually, no, we're doing a chainless foundation. It's so much faster, if a little confusing at first. Okay, so we do actually have to start with a chain, so back to that…"

Marinette talked him through the steps of starting their project, showing him first with hers and then guiding his hands how to do it right.

After half an hour and very little progress, Nino set his work down. "What if I'm not cut out for this?"

"Nonsense. I've tried teaching Alya, and she's even worse at it than you are. Your stitches are mostly even. Loose, but even. Besides, if you give up now, you won't be able to improve." She tied off the knot on the end of her butterfly. "See? I could've never done this when I started. It's only through dedication, a large hole in my checkbook, tears, and some jackass with a butterfly fetish that I'm able to continue doing it and improving on my craft."

Nino snickered. "Jackass with a butterfly fetish. I'll have to remember to tell Alya that one." He looked at the pitiful work in his lap. "Will I really be able to do all that someday?"

"Of course you will, but you have to work for it." She laid her hand down on his with a smile. "I believe in you."

Their heads jerked to the door when there was bumping and meowing.

"That would be Trixx. Time to put the yarn away." Nino tucked the unfinished project into a bin and snapped the lid on.

"I thought you didn't understand the appeal of small animals roaming around your apartment."

"That was until I got to spend some time with Plagg. Watch out, kitty coming in." Nino opened the door. "Easy there, kitty. I fed you not that long ago. Don't want you to end up like Plagg."

"I swear, Plagg gains weight every time I touch him. Hi, Trixx. Do you smell Plagg on me?

Trixx lept up and settled into Marinette's lap.

"Looks like I'm stuck here for now. Didn't the people at the shelter say she didn't like strangers?"

"I think she knows when people are friendly. Don't you?" Nino rubbed Trixx's face, smiling when she purred and pressed back against his hand. "Wayzz just does turtle things like wander around his tank and eat stuff. I like him, though. He seems content to do his turtle thing, and that makes me happy."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it." Marinette rubbed both hands into Trixx's long fur, her grin matching Nino's. "I love feeling kitties purr under my fingers. One of the better perks of cat ownership." She giggled when Trixx rolled over and exposed her belly. "Do you want to fight?"

"No, she actually wants tummy rubs. I'm surprised Plagg play fights. He seems like he'd be too lazy."

"It's one of his rare physical activities, though I can get him going with the laser pointer every now and again. He just sleeps extra long if I do that. I swear I don't know how that cat got so fat. But you're not fat, my love." Marinette gently pressed her forehead to Trixx's, giggling. "You're not fat. You're just fluffy."

"Okay, I'm hungry, and we still have to go ring shopping. Up, up, up." Nino scooped Trixx into his arms, kissing her on the head. "I'll feed you, too." Trixx protested but stayed put.

Marinette brushed the stray fur off of her shorts. "Can't let Plagg know I'm cheating on him, can I?"

Nino put Trixx down on the counter, fetching treats for her. "It's not recommended. Want some pasta? We have some left from last night."

"Sounds great."

Nino pulled the leftovers from the fridge and arranged them on a plate to reheat. "Sorry it's not as much as you'd probably like."

"I get free food. Do you think I'm complaining?"

"I guess not." He leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms, taking a deep breath.

"Something on your mind?"

"What if I can't find a ring good enough for Alya?"

"Nino, listen to me." Marinette laid her hand on his arm, waiting until she had his full attention. "Alya is going to love you no matter the ring you can find or have or any of that. Let's eat, let's go look for a ring that you probably won't buy today, and let's relax when our significant others get off of work."

Nino gave half a smile. "Yeah, you're right. Let's do all that."

* * *

A skinny blonde walked along the street, a sculpture in tow. She'd sculpted it out of chicken wire and painted it yellow since it reminded her of a honeycomb design, and she was rather pleased with the whole look of it poised on a bench, offering a hand to the viewer.

She snapped a few pictures before she turned away, but someone stopped her before she could get too far.

"That's a really cool sculpture, miss! What do you call it?"

She was lost for a title. "Uh, The Throne."

"And what's your name?"

She smirked. _This_ answer she knew. "Queen Bee."

* * *

 _A/N: So, that happened._

 _I haven't been doing too hot lately, but that's the way life goes. I could go on some really terrible rant about it and how my mental health is affecting me and all that, but it's a little pointless. Let's just say that I'm not doing well and have lost track of what day it is and am staying up way too late to publish a_ fic _._

 _Anyway, I love you all, and I hope you're well. And feedback is always appreciated!_

 _xoxo -wwot_


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